Another Medium
by Rumon Gray
Summary: Surface life proves to be about as great as it can be, but for two brothers, something threatens to pull everything apart. Sans isn't happy, and won't let anybody in, leaving Papyrus to feel slightly less great than usual. Why? Wasn't this their "happy ending?" Smells like something is wrong.
1. Surface Tension

**Another Medium**

Part I : "Surface Tension"

by RumonGray

 _day 184 on the surface_

 _hey,_

 _Reset hasn't happened yet, but that doesn't mean it won't happen. I love Frisk, I do, but I can't shake the feeling like the rug could be pulled out from under us, y'know? We only made it to the surface one time before, and it only lasted a day. Long enough for me to write about it anyway. That's fine, I didn't get my hopes up then, either._

 _Not really sleeping, either. Sleeping is when the nightmares happen, and last time I even woke Papyrus up. I think I'd rather be tired instead of having him worry about me. He's too cool for me to start dragging him down. I was hoping they'd stop, but then again, these dreams have nothing to do with Frisk or the resets._

 _I'm also starting to wonder if they're real or not. They're so clear that they don't feel like memories, because the resets caused those to be pretty fuzzy at times. It feels like they're happening now. Like they're not dreams at all._

 _Three paragraphs, huh? Way too much. I need a break. Later._

* * *

"SANS!"

Just like clockwork, Papyrus' melodic voice shrieked from the other side of Sans' bedroom door. Every morning, at the exact same time, in the exact same tone, with no deviation whatsoever. Regardless, the corners of Sans' eternal smile curled up just a bit more.

It smelled like socks and sunshine.

"three...two...one."

The door swung open just like it did every single day. Papyrus' hands on his bony hips as usual.

"LAZYBONES! HURRY UP! FRISK IS JUST ABOUT TO LEAVE FOR SCHOOL, AND IT IS OUR DUTY AS FRIENDS TO WISH THEM THE BEST DAY EVER AND TO WARN THEM TO NOT GET IN TROUBLE!"

"oh...mornin' bro. didn't hear you come in," Sans grinned wider.

"GREAT. NOW YOU HAVE A HEARING PROBLEM, TOO? OF COURSE, IF YOU'D GOTTEN SOMETHING AS SIMPLE AS AN ALARM CLOCK, YOU WOULDN'T NEED ME TO WAKE UP UP EVERY MORNING!"

"sorry pap, guess i just couldn't find the time."

"WELL PERHAPS IF YOU'D-" Papyrus thought for a moment and then rolled his eyes. "OH, I SEE, WE'RE STARTING EARLY TODAY! GOOD TO KNOW! NYEH HEH HEH..."

"hah, i guess you're right. i'll meet ya downstairs, ok mom?"

"...ALRIGHT, JUST DON'T BE LATE. FRISK IS LEAVING IN...FIVE MINUTES." The skeleton slammed the door shut with all the gentleness that The Great Papyrus could muster, which meant of course that it shook the entire house.

Sans chuckled and stretched his limbs, kicking off the blanket that barely covered him anyway. Finally giving in to inevitability, he stood up and scooped his familiar blue jacket off the floor. Slipping on his untied shoes, he placed his hands in his pockets and closed his eyes to focus, only to vanish seconds later.

"SANS! HURRY UP!" Papyrus shouted up the stairs.

"right behind ya, bro," Sans smiled, leaning against the front door.

Papyrus jumped and spun around. "GAH! I WISH YOU'D STOP DOING THAT."

"hurry up, pap, we're gonna be late," Sans reminded, opening the door and stepping outside, his brother following shortly after. Papyrus stood diligently at the end of their neighbors' lawn, almost seeming to stand at attention. All that royal guard training shining through.

Sans watched the sunlight slowly move across the street, stretching and molding the shadows in its perfect, uniform fashion. He still wasn't used to seeing the sun at all, and on top of that, he found his mind wandering more today than most. He couldn't figure out if something was wrong, or if it was because of what he'd written in his journal the night before. For some reason, he felt the need to take stock of the situation, to make sure everything was in place like it was supposed to be.

The neighborhood was pretty much a quiet suburb, present skeleton brothers excepted. Since leaving the Underground, most of the monsters that did leave ended up migrating to the local city of Ebott, named for the mountain or...the other way around. It was a large enough city, but it was still fairly remote, which worked out great for this new development in human history, since the government officials still had no real big plan for revealing anything in the near future. Many other monsters decided to remain in the Underground, however, which made sense. Not everybody was ready for so much change in so short a time span.

Sans turned his attention to the row of small houses on the block. When everybody came here, they found a society that found money even more important than the monsters themselves did. Thankfully, GOLD was worth quite a lot of money on the surface, so a lot of the growing pains were alleviated immediately.

Around the middle of the lane he saw Alphys and Undyne's place, which was a bit bigger than most, if only so Alphys would have more space for her work. Since getting past the barrier, Alphys seemed more confident than usual, and resigned herself to finding ways that monsters could be of more help in the larger society that they were now joining. Her studies led her into developing technologies that took advantage of monsters' greatest and unique asset: their magic.

At the very very far end of the lane was where Asgore lived, alone. It stood out amongst most of the others for having an incredibly well-cultivated garden packed into such a small space. The other noticeable landmarks of the king's "domain" were rather early this morning: several black cars parked out front told Sans that government officials were already chatting and having tea with Asgore. As for Frisk being an ambassador, well, it was a nice sentiment, but Frisk was still a child, and children are rarely taken seriously in the human world, so Asgore accepted the responsibility. Sans mused whether he was doing it to make up for the mistakes he'd made as a king, and maybe as a husband.

"man, asgore's startin' early today, huh?"

Papyrus turned towards Asgore's home and nodded. "GUESS THAT MEANS UNDYNE'S THERE TOO. A ROYAL GUARD'S WORK IS NEVER DONE."

"well, she's not really a 'royal guard,' she's just acting as asgore's bodyguard in case something bad happens. probably won't but you never know."

"WELL, NOTHING BAD WILL HAPPEN WITH UNDYNE AROUND. SHE HAS THE FASTEST SUPLEX-AND-SIMULTANEOUS-NOOGIE ARMS OUT OF ALL OF US."

"yeah, i guess she's determined to keep ol' fluffybuns safe. oop-speaking of..."

The front door squeaked open slowly as Frisk stepped out, followed by Toriel, smiling as always. The child dashed forward, jumping in order to land defiantly in front of Papyrus, beaming him that patented smile. Papyrus scooped Frisk up, spinning around and drawing them in for a hug.

"WOWIE! ONE DAY YOU MIGHT BE AS GOOD A HUGGER AS THE GREAT PAPYRUS, RIGHT SANS?"

Sans chuckled. "well, they might have to 'bone up' on their technique first."

"SANS!"

Toriel immediately chortled.

"LADY ASGORE PLEASE DON'T ENCOURAGE THE SKELETON."

"Hah, I am sorry Papyrus, it is just that he really tickles my...funny-bone!"

"OH MY GOD!"

Papyrus set the human back down and placed his hands on their shoulders. "HUMAN FRIEND, IT IS IMPERITIVE THAT YOU HAVE A GREAT DAY. AND...PLEASE DON'T FOLLOW MY BROTHER'S EXAMPLE, OKAY?"

"yeah," Sans nodded, "follow papyrus' example and stay outta trouble. ready to go?"

Frisk nodded as Sans tussled their shaggy brown hair.

Toriel, not wanting to be left out, stepped forward as well. "Farewell, my child. Be good, won't you? And Sans, you be careful, too."

Sans grabbed Frisk's hand and placed his other hand in his pocket, turning to smile at his brother and friend. "don't worry, we're taking a shortcut," he winked.

And then they were gone.

Toriel gave a happy sigh. "I still don't know how he does that. It was a shock when he first showed me."

"SANS HAS ALWAYS BEEN ABLE TO DO THAT, I THINK. IT WASN'T UNTIL RECENTLY THAT HE ACTUALLY...TOLD ME ABOUT IT THOUGH, BUT I ALWAYS THOUGHT IT WAS WEIRD HOW HE WAS ABLE TO BE AT GRILLBY'S AS SOON AS HIS BREAKS STARTED."

"He really shouldn't go there so often, the food is horrible!"

"I AGREE. OOOH, LADY ASGORE, THAT REMINDS ME! SANS PICKED UP QUITE A LOT OF SPAGHETTI FROM THE MARKET THE OTHER DAY, AND I WAS THINKING OF MAKING A HUGE BATCH IF YOU AND FRISK WANTED TO COME OVER TONIGHT?"

"Oh, that's a splendid idea! I'll make some garlic bread to go with it!"

"GARLIC BREAD...? WITH SPAGHETTI?"

"Just trust me, they go well together. Just don't forget to pick up Sans from Grillby's so you two can pick up Frisk, okay?"

"OF COURSE! BUT FOR NOW, I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, MUST GO ON PATROL. TAKE CARE!"

Toriel watched Papyrus jog away almost comically, and laughed warmly. "You too."

It smelled like morning dew and solace.

* * *

Sans' mid-morning to afternoon couch hibernation was going well. A half-empty bag of potato chips, a green couch, and a remote that was just barely in danger of falling on the floor. All he needed now was to not have any dreams, so perhaps he could truly get the sleep he wanted.

It smelled like the typical routine.

Images swirled in his head, once again the usual suspects. Fragments, pieces of timelines best left forgotten, others that could have been, but never were. This was usually when Sans would focus...well, focus as well as one could do once in dreamland. The result was both a boon and a curse, becoming lucid. He had all the control over himself that he wanted, but he couldn't control the one thing he wanted, the scenery.

He knew this house well. Snowdin, complete with a second Sans lying very still on the couch. His arms were crossed and he didn't seem to be moving, almost as if he were lying in state. It was a small shock, to be sure.

 _i'm dreaming. i'm dreaming, this is just the past. i'm not in snowdin anymore, i'm on the surface. this is a dream._

The dreamer looked over his past self with keen interest. His breathing was very slow, almost nonexistent, and his toothy smile was turned down slightly. He noticed that his arms seemed to be hiding something, covering some sort of lingering pain.

 _i remember this. this was the "reset" after the kid...after the kid killed everybody. papyrus told me that i was seemingly comatose for a week. he said that he could barely feel any sort of magic coming from me at all, he said he was so afraid he was going to lose me. that means that this is the reset when..._

That's when Sans noticed something else. Sitting on the corner table was a vigilant, and terrified Papyrus. His gaze was fixed squarely on the couch-dweller's closed eyes, and he had to keep clasping his hands together to keep from shaking even more than he already was.

 _papyrus didn't tell me he watched me so intensely. he told me he didn't eat...or sleep. that's so messed up. i'm sorry papyrus i'm so sorry..._

"p...pap..." Sans whispered

"SANS!" The skeleton bounded off the table like a puppy who's master had just come home. He knelt in front of the couch, wanting to scoop his brother up but holding back just in case. "SANS! OH SANS YOU'RE AWAKE! I'VE BEEN SO WORRIED ABOUT YOU AND SO HAS UNDYNE AND EVEN THE PATRONS AT GRILLBY'S WERE STARTING TO WOND-"

"hey...hey pap...slow down. breathe, please."

"YOU'RE THE ONE WHO NEEDS TO BREATHE, BROTHER! YOUR BREATHING WAS SO WEAK THAT IT WAS PRACTICALLY NON-EXISTENT."

"i...how long was i out?"

"ABOUT A WEEK. WELL, MORE LIKE SIX DAYS AND SOME HOURS BUT IT FELT LIKE A WEEK."

"you...did you watch over me the entire time? did you even eat?"

"NO! I DIDN'T EVEN SLEEP BECAUSE I NEEDED TO BE HERE. SANS...I COULDN'T EVEN FEEL YOUR MAGIC. I MEAN, I CAN NOW BECAUSE YOU ARE AWAKE BUT I WAS SO SCARED YOU WERE GOING TO 'FALL DOWN.'"

"i'm sorry," Sans uttered, rising up to a seated position and placing his hands on his brother's face. "i'm sorry pap, i don't know how i can ever make it up to you."

A teary-eyed Papyrus instinctively embraced Sans, giving small, and yet still great, sobs. For a brief moment, the two felt their magical fields begin to intertwine, which fed the same emotions into Sans, watering his eyes as well.

 _yeah...this was a moment all right. i don't ever want to see him like that again._

"SANS...I DON'T KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU, BUT PLEASE...I WANT YOU TO TELL ME. I WANT YOU TO TELL ME EVERYTHING. YOU'VE BEEN SO DIFFERENT AND IT WAS SO SUDDEN. WHAT HAPPENED TO THE BROTHER WHO TOOK CARE OF ME? WHAT HAPPENED TO MAKE YOU SO...DISTANT? IT'S LIKE A SWITCH WAS FLIPPED AND SUDDENDLY YOUR LIGHTS WERE OFF."

"i...i don't think you'd believe me if i told you. papyrus...it's best you didn't know."

"DO YOU NOT TRUST ME?"

"no, it's not that, it's just..."

"DO YOU THINK I'M...TOO STUPID TO UNDERSTAND IT? YOU CAN TELL ME, I'VE...HEARD THAT BEFORE, EVEN IF IT WASN'T REALLY TRUE."

"no! i...okay, pap. you win. i'll tell you everything i can, but to do that, i need my journal. could you go get it? it's the book on my bed."

"OF COURSE! JUST...LAY HERE AND RELAX, I'LL GO GET IT!" Papyrus said. He gently laid his brother back down and wiped his eyes as he headed upstairs.

 _this was when i decided to tell him about all of this. about how the timelines were being reset, how i used my journal to keep track of them, and about how in some of those timelines...he didn't make it. i never told him it was because of frisk, but i did tell him of the timeline that happened previously, or at least, i told him what i could. i kinda rapidly scrawled that into my journal before, i guess, i stumbled downstairs and collapsed on the couch. no...before i...died?_

 _pap actually understood a lot of what i was saying. there was a lot of hugging and crying, from him mostly. i told him that i'd repeated the same span of time dozens of times over, and that it just...wore me down. according to my journal, i started out with a strong drive to find out what it was, then i turned to sadness and despair, until i finally got here. i just didn't have it in me to really try feeling anything anymore. i told him that was why it seemed like i had changed overnight, because to him...i suppose i did. i still asked him not to tell anyone._

The dreamscape washed away, leaving sans in a void with his thoughts.

 _i told him all this because in the last timeline we...fought. we fought because i didn't want to tell him, and i'd never seen him be so angry and disappointed in me. and in that timeline i lost him...again. but this time i felt like i'd lost something even worse. i lost all of papyrus, not just his body. not just his attitude or his voice. i felt like i was losing his very existence._

 _i...also told him all of this because i knew another reset was coming, and he would just forget all of it anyway. how fitting, because this was the very last reset we've had. so now he knows. he just does and i..._

CRUNCH.

Sans awoke to find himself on the floor, his bag of chips breaking his short fall. The afternoon sun forced him to squint a little as it forced its way into their house. He stood up and brushed the remaining crumbs on the floor, leaving the bag where it lay.

He sighed. "It's that late already, huh? I gotta get over to Grillby's."

He went to open the front door, and as he did, the knob turned on its own. It swung open to a very surprised Papyrus.

"...SANS?! YOU'RE NOT AT GRILLBY'S AT THIS HOUR?"

"heh, nope, guess i crashed on the couch again."

"WELL THAT MAKES THIS EASY, THEN! IT'S ALMOST TIME TO GO GET FRISK!"

Sans nodded, and paused. He closed the door and gave another heavy sigh.

"before, we go. hey, papyrus...do you remember what i told you? about the stuff i wrote about in my journal?"

Papyrus' face grew long. "YES...ABOUT THE TIMELINES. COULD WE...NOT TALK ABOUT THIS NOW? LOOK, IF YOU'RE STILL WORRIED ABOUT IT I CAN ASSURE YOU I HAVEN'T TOLD ANYBODY ELSE."

"it's not that...i just wanted to know."

"WHY?"

Sans re-opened the door and smiled a bit wider. "...wishful thinking i guess."

"O...KAY."

Sans gave a low chuckle. "c'mon, let's go get frisk, okay?"

"ALRIGHT."

Papyrus slammed the door shut and pulled out his house key, turning it in the lock with a barely audible "NYEH HEH HEH."

It smelled like bones and doubt and unconditional love.


	2. You're Blue Now

_"Looking back, I wonder when the ties began to slack,  
You can't help the way you grow, and that's a fact,  
Been looking for the holes, but not the cracks..."_  
-Vertical Horizon, "Consolation"

* * *

"SANS...I'M HOME."

 _dreamin' already, huh? man, i really oughtta get some real sleep sometime. so...whaddawegot here. snowdin, and pap is...oh man, i remember this. he was..what, nine? ten? must've made me about...23 or so? ...not that age really matters once monsters are fully grown. ...oh man...i kinda don't want to watch this._

"'sup kiddo," Sans gave a nod of acknowledgment, "have fun out there?"

"I..." the young skeleton sunk deeper into his winter coat, balling a fist while pulling his hat down over his face.

"whoa whoa...what's that?"

Sans reached out and grabbed the hat, sliding it off to reveal a small crack in the side of Papyrus' skull.

"DON'T."

Sans touched it gently with a boney finger as Papyrus winced. He rubbed it ever so softly and whistled.

 _quite a shiner you got there._

"quite a shiner you got there."

Papyrus looked away, toward the floor in what Sans felt must've been the furthest corner in the entire world. A slew of jokes entered his brain at almost the exact same moment, but something completely derailed any comedic train of thought.

Papyrus was shaking. Visibly trembling.

"any closer and it might've gotten your eye-socket. you know you're gonna have to tell me what happened. those jerk kids, right?"

Papyrus just nodded, shaking even harder.

"okay, okay, look, just...tell me what you were doing."

"MAKING A...SNOWMAN."

"alright, good, making a snowman. and they came up and those kids just, what...pushed you or something?"

"ONE OF THEM...THREW A SNOWBALL AT ME. I THOUGHT THEY WANTED TO HAVE A SNOWBALL FIGHT SO I THREW SOME BACK AND THEN..."

Papyrus reached for the crack to hold it, but flinched at the idea and held off.

"ONE OF THEM THREW IT AS HARD AS IT COULD, IT WASN'T A SNOWBALL AT ALL, IT WAS JUST A ROCK! AND I JUST FELL OVER AND COULDN'T MOVE AND SANS IT HURT SO MUCH AND..."

The shaking intensified even more.

"...okay, how'd you get back here if you couldn't move? can you remember that?"

"THAT FISH GIRL, WHAT WAS HER NAME? SHE'S A TEENAGER I THINK."

"uh...i think her name is undyne? yeah, she's...something."

"SHE SAW WHAT HAPPENED AND HELPED ME UP, THEN CHASED EVERYBODY OFF, BUT I DIDN'T SEE HER AFTER THAT SO I JUST...WALKED HOME."

"okay, so here we are. don't worry, your magical energy will help it heal itself, i'm going to go get something to cover..."

Papyrus' teeth were chattering now.

 _i had never seen papyrus like this before. it...scared me a bit._

Sans placed his hands on Papyrus' shoulders and looked him square in the face. "you're shaking, pap. you gotta tell me what's going on, why is this..."

And then he knew.

"...papyrus."

Papyrus forced his eyes closed. Sans wrapped his arms around his brother and brought him closer, squeezing him tightly.

"...you can cry, you know."

"...WHAT?"

"cry. you want to cry, right? you can. it's okay."

"BROTHER, I DON'T..."

"shh...i get it, but you don't gotta put on a brave face just for me, or for anyone, really. it's alright."

"SANS..."

The shaking slowed, and the waterworks began. Sad, terrible wails combined with congested sniffles, all were equally muffled by Sans' shirt, which was becoming more and more damp with time.

"I HATE THEM. I HATE THEM AND I HATE MYSELF AND I HATE EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS PLACE SOMETIMES AND...AND I DON'T WANT TO BUT I JUST CAN'T STOP THINKING ABOUT HOW MUCH I..."

"yeah. i know."

 _papyrus said he hated himself. that almost broke me right then and there._

"yer shakin' pretty hard, bro. breathe. just breathe."

The child inhaled deeply through chattering teeth, then exhaled. Slowly, but surely, his trembling slowed to stillness as he looked up at his brother.

"HOW DO YOU DO IT, SANS? HOW CAN YOU POSSIBLY GO THROUGH THIS WITHOUT CRYING? I'VE NEVER SEEN YOU CRY."

"oh, i've cried before. trust me, you don't wanna see it."

"WHY NOT?"

"...because it hurts, pap. it hurts somebody's heart to see somebody you love cry, y'know?"

"OH...OH NO, I'M HURTING YOU AREN'T I? I'M THE WORST BROTHER EVER!"

"no!"

Sans gave a small chuckle and pushed Papyrus away from his chest, to look him in the face again.

"...you're not the one hurting me. what happened to you...that's what's hurting me, and that isn't your fault. you didn't hurt yourself, those idiots did it."

"BUT IF I WERE STRONGER, I COULD'VE..."

"pap, they tricked you. there's nothing strength can do against being lied to by bad people."

Papyrus wiped his eyes with a gloved hand, sniffling. "WHY...DO THEY HATE ME?"

"...because they're jerks, papyrus. they don't like you, probably for the same reason they don't like me. we weren't born in snowdin, so we don't 'belong' in snowdin, even if it's wrong."

The brothers sat in silence for a moment, ambient sounds dotting the aural landscape like gems on the ceiling of Waterfall's caves.

It smelled like melted snow and broken hearts.

"papyrus...don't ever call yourself the 'worst brother ever' ever again, okay?"

"I'M SORRY, I'M JUST TOO..."

"you're not the worst brother ever, because you're _my_ brother, and to do that you have to be pretty great, y'know? i wouldn't have kept anybody less."

"...REALLY?"

"yep. i guess you could say i find you...incredibro."

Papyrus chuckled, then winced again as his laughter shook the crack, flaring the pain outward.

"heh, sorry kiddo, alright, let's get that patched up, then we'll figure out what we're gonna do for some grub, okay?'

"OKAY..." Papyrus said with trepidation.

 _i broke down that night. i felt like such a failure. i couldn't protect him from those kinds of people. they don't deserve somebody like him. they don't deserve anything, but they got everything, all because of who they were and where they were born. how messed up is that?_

The void returned, Sans, again, alone with his thoughts.

 _how messed up is it that while us monsters were trapped underground, with barely any hope, that we could just turn on each other like that? what right did we have to just divide up boundaries like they even mattered at all? we were all in this together, and these idiots only cared about themselves or about their town's "pride." snowdin wasn't special, waterfall wasn't special, hotland wasn't special, home and new home weren't special. they were just places that we were forced to inhabit because of that stupid barrier._

The void stirred a little.

 _we can't just throw back the hand we were dealt and hope the dealer shows us a bit of mercy. we have to play, carefully. we have to call when we can, and fold when we can't, and our souls are the ante. and the worst part is that we had no idea what the surface was like, but i always had a dark, sneaking suspicion that it was just going to be more of this. more territorial disputes, more hatred because somebody is "different." how could humans possibly accept us if they never knew we existed before?_

It smiled.

 _how could we possibly survive? we have each other, and that's a great thing, but what can monsters do against such powerful souls? our magic is no match for a human child, let alone a planet with 8 billion adults. it's not fair. and how was i supposed to keep pap's spirits up in the face of all this?_

 _...not that it mattered. in a few days papyrus was back to his cheerful self, almost like this had never happened. it was seemingly out of place. I know now, pap's always been really good at moving on from bad stuff, but back then it was pretty surprising. still...in spite of his ability to cope, it all still felt so...well, messed up. can i even protect him from stuff like that?_

It smelled like emotions being devoured.

* * *

BUMP.

"huh? wha..."

Sans' hand slipped out from under his chin, forcing his skull to bounce off of the passenger-side door of Papyrus' car. He looked in the back seat to see Frisk giggling at how his sunglasses were skewed so far as to not cover either of his eyes anymore.

"oh, hey kiddo. good day at school?"

Frisk nodded.

"FRISK TOLD ME THAT THEY HAD AN ABSOLUTE VICTORY OVER THIS SCHOOL DAY, BUT YOU WERE ASLEEP AS USUAL, SANS."

"heh, i guess i was was just like half of this car."

"HALF OF THIS CAR...?"

"yeah. 'two-tired.'" He pushed his sunglasses back into position.

Papyrus grumbled and shook his head, pushing his own sunglasses back up while Frisk leaned forward and motioned for a high-five, which they received in short order.

"IT WASN'T EVEN THAT GOOD."

"...yeah, that joke was pretty...'pun-thetic.'"

"THAT ONE WAS EVEN WORSE!"

Sans smiled as he turned to watch the scenery pass them by. He still wasn't entirely used to sunlight-none of them really were, save Frisk. The way it illuminated everything better than the brightest of Mettaton's spotlights, the way it warmed better, and more gently, than the steam vents of Hotland. Still too hot, though. He opened his side's vents and aimed them right at his face, cranking up the air conditioning.

It smelled like dust and that new-car-smell.

Papyrus sighed. "TOO BAD WE HAD TO CALL OFF THE DINNER TONIGHT. I CAN'T BELIEVE THE MARKET IS COMPLETELY OUT OF SPAGHETTI SAUCE!"

"pap...you bought _all_ of their sauce a few days ago, and you used _all_ of it."

"YES, AND THAT WAS FOR RESEARCH!"

"what kinda research?"

"I WAS...EXPLORING THE ENDLESS PASTABILITIES! NYEH-HEH HEH!"

Sans was...slightly proud, and then distracted by the vibration in his pocket. He pulled out his phone and swiped his password to unlock it. "huh. got a text from alphys."

"WHAT DOES IT SAY?"

"i dunno, just says i got a text."

"OPEN IT, LAZYBONES."

Sans laughed and shook his head as he opened the text. "hmm...she wants us to come over to help her look at something she's working on. i...dunno why she wants us but...oh, and she wants you and frisk to come along to run 'undyne interference.'"

"...UNDYNE 'INTERFERENCE?'"

"yeah, y'know, since she has a tendency to get really excited and...break alphys' stuff. just...y'know, go hang out with undyne for awhile and i'll see what she has to show me."

"MAYBE SHE'LL WANT TO..."

"...preferably not cooking."

"URGH. FINE."

Sans looked at Frisk in the rear-view mirror. "sound good, buddo?"

Frisk nodded happily.

* * *

The door to Undyne and Alphys' house swung open violently, with a grinning Undyne already flexing at her visitors.

"HI UNDYNE!"

"'Sup, nerd?! ...Frisk?!" Undyne scooped up the child. "You gotta date with my couch!"

Frisk giggled as Undyne dashed inside and body-slammed them into the cushions with a resounding "NGAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"

"UNDYNE, DON'T SUPLEX THE CHILD!"

"It wasn't a suplex, it was a power bomb! Learn your wrestling terms!"

"YOU KNOW THAT STUFF ISN'T..."

"...You'd better rethink your next sentence or you're getting RKO'd out of nowhere."

"...ISN'T SOMETHING YOU SHOULD USE ON A CHILD," Papyrus rolled his eyes. "A GOOD PILEDRIVER WOULD WORK BETTER ON SOMEONE SO SHORT."

"...You're right! Y'ready, Frisk?!"

Frisk grinned and nodded, getting into a ready "fighting" position.

"Yeah! Let's get into it!"

Sans slipped in during the commotion and shut the door, shaking his head bemusedly. He thought about announcing his presence by asking where Doctor Alphys was, but it was too much work. Besides, he knew where she was, in her makeshift lab.

He made his way to the end of the house, where it became obvious that an addition was made-a rather large one, that took up most of the backyard, in fact. The door hissed open automatically as the skeleton slipped inside, the atmosphere almost completely different from the rest of the house.

It smelled like progress...and bad opinions.

"O-oh, Undyne, that you?" A timid voice came from the other end.

"nope."

"Oh, cool, you came. I w-wanted to show you something I've been working on?"

"...why me though?"

"Because you...like this kinda stuff, r-right? Papyrus told me you were really into sci-fi and science so...oh no, I'm sorry..." Alphys hung her head and wrung her hands, "...I assumed too much, huh? S-sorry I just thought..."

"ok ok, you weren't wrong. just givin' you a hard time. so what's up, doc?"

The doctor pulled out a box with three or four box-like devices, about a cubic foot in size. Sans picked one up and looked it over, noticing that one of them had an electrical outlet on the size.

"...you makin' some kind of battery? what're these for?"

"W-well, Asgore wants us to try to make ourselves useful in society to show them that we're not...dangerous. So I thought maybe we could use our talents and help out, y'know?"

"sure, but...batteries? they already have those, right?"

"Not like these!"

A strangely motivated look struck Alphys' face as she pushed up her glasses, gleaming the light in a very...anime-esque way. She picked up one of the batteries and held it with both hands, closing her eyes to focus.

Her magic, electrical in nature, fizzled to life and began to circulate around the outside of the battery. Sans tilted his head, noticing a small gauge indicating the battery's charge, from 0 to 100. The needle began to flicker, but didn't manage to get much farther past the 10 or 15% mark.

Alphys breathed out in relief. "Heh, sorry, I usually don't use my magic much so..."

"wait, this battery runs on...magic?"

"Well, y-yeah, is that wrong?"

"no, no, just...didn't think it could work, is all. magic is a weird thing because it defies physical laws but it doesn't at the same time."

"Well sure, but the one thing people forget is that magic is still energy being released. Whenever somebody uses magic, it's a reflection of their emotions, right?"

"yeah."

"Well, emotions or not, whenever magic is used, there's energy manipulation, or 'change' taking place. This battery is theoretically charged by absorbing that 'change.'"

She looked at the gauge, which had already tapped back to zero. She sighed. "Assuming of course, that it could hold a charge. I haven't been able to charge it very far. Theoretically, if I could get it all the way, the charge would hold, but..."

"WOWIE, YOU MADE A MAGIC BATTERY?!" Papyrus' eyes lit up as he barged into the lab. "THAT'S SO COOL!"

"hey, pap. thought you were hangin' with..."

"Me?" Undyne huffed in behind the skeleton, "nah, I couldn't keep this a secret for long, it's too cool."

"O-oh...well I guess it's cool, I guess," Alphys blushed.

Frisk hopped up into one of the stools to look at the batteries, holding one between their hands. The human began to wear a fiercely determined face as their hands shook, their arms flexing. Everybody watched in a sort of honest amusement. Frisk then noted the gauge needle hadn't moved.

"Sorry, Frisk, I...haven't made one that runs on DETERMINATION," the doctor said.

Alphys' and Sans' eyes met for a brief moment, and then both of them looked away. They knew, they even knew that Frisk knew, but the air was still heavy with the burden. Two bearers of forbidden knowledge, all alone together for a single instant.

Frisk instinctively knew what to do. The child hopped down from the stool and walked up to Alphys, clasping the doctor's scaly hands in their own and holding them up to their face, smiling gently. Alphys had to fight to hold back a tear for a moment.

"Thanks."

Undyne and Papyrus exchanged glances and gave smiling nods to each other.

Sans grabbed the battery and looked at it for a sec, and closed his eyes to focus. When they opened, one of his eye-sockets was completely empty, the other one had a new iris, one that flickered between yellow and blue. The battery began to float in mid-air, its charge gauge showing it filled to maximum capacity.

Everybody else focused on different parts of the scene. Undyne grinned at how awe-struck Alphys was, who in turn was marveling at how the gauge was charged in such a short display. Papyrus was always a little shocked at Sans' abilities, since he never demonstrated them very much.

Frisk was looking at Sans' eye with a mix of fear and sadness. Something Sans picked up on and immediately let go of his magic, catching the battery before it slammed to the counter.

He smiled and wrapped his arm around Frisk's shoulder, his eyes back to their normal beady selves. "sorry, frisk, i didn't mean to scare ya, you okay?"

The human nodded and fought to smile again.

"it's okay, really. i'm really sorry."

Frisk buried their head into the side of Sans' jacket as he gently stroked their hair. "i really am..."

Alphys was brimming with excitement. "It...it's fully charged! And it's not dropping! Sans, that was incredible!"

"WOWIE, I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU ACTUALLY...TRIED. I'M PROUD OF YOU, SANS!"

"heh, thanks pap."

Undyne was taken aback; she hadn't seen Sans' abilities before. "Wait...you can move things with your mind?!"

"well...it's more like i'm changing its gravity. not as easy as it sounds but it's what i got. y'know, I bet papyrus could charge one of these babies too. give it a shot, pap."

"OF COURSE!"

Papyrus grabbed an uncharged battery and let it sit in front of him for a moment, contemplating how he'd use his magic. First, he summoned a long, white bone and held it in his hands, tapping the side of the battery, which of course had no effect.

"Yeah," Undine chucked, "my spears don't do anything either. Probably because they're solid."

"HMM..."

He then summoned another bone, this one seemingly translucent and emitting a blue glow. He slowly slid the ghost-like bone through the battery.

"NOBODY MOVE IT. IT WON'T HURT ANYTHING IF IT DOESN'T MOVE."

He let go of the bone as they all watched the gauge, which rose to around the 25% mark before stopping, holding there. Papyrus removed the bone and willed it to fade away, looking a bit disappointed in himself.

"hey, papyrus, try your 'blue attack.'"

"MY BLUE ATTACK?! OKAY. EVERYBODY STAND CLEAR, I NEED TO FOCUS."

Everybody backed away from the counter entirely as Papyrus held his hands out. Several incorporeal, blue bones of all shapes and sizes flew from his fingertips in quick succession, passing right through everything in their path before fading at the end of the lab. His gaze quickly shifted to the battery on the table and he clapped his hands together, and pointed them toward his target with a resounding "NYEH!"

The battery began to glow an eerie shade of indigo, and its weight caused the center of the counter to begin buckling under the strain. The gauge was immediately filled to capacity as well.

Alphys, again, was awestruck. "How...how did you do that? And the battery is...so heavy!"

"yeah...paps' 'blue attack' makes things really really heavy. i think he's changing its gravity too, just in one direction," Sans commented.

"I DID IT! WOWIE!"

"knew you could, bro," Sans grinned.

Alphys was still completely astonished. "I don't get it, how did you two get such powerful magic?"

Papyrus gestured to himself, holding his hand to his chest. "WELL, I'LL HAVE YOU KNOW THAT I TRAIN EACH AND EVERY DAY TO REACH MY FULL POTENTIAL!"

Undyne guffawed. "Yeah, and the crazy thing is, Papyrus never ever ever _ever_ runs out of energy. We've sparred before and he's super tough! He just doesn't ever get tired at all."

"UNDYNE...WOWIE. BUT...I DO GET TIRED SOMETIMES."

"Yeah, and every time you do, what happens?"

"I JUST...BREATHE IN AND OUT FOR A FEW SECONDS AND I'M BACK AT PEAK CONDITION."

"That's what I'm talking about! You're like this bottomless well, it's freakin' cool!"

Alphys turned her attention to Sans. "How about you?"

Sans shrugged and looked to the side. "just lucky i guess."

"Lucky? Sans...this is huge. Gravity manipulation isn't even possible within the realm of human science, much less what I'm capable of, or what _any_ monster is capable of, really. I mean...what about your parents? Magic is passed down through the family tree, did your parents..."

"we don't know."

A quiet hush filled the room as both Sans and Papyrus looked to the floor.

"Alphys," Undyne cleared her throat, "Sans and Papyrus are...orphans."

"Oh...O-oh no I'm s-sorry! I didn't mean to make you guys upset! Oh...oh no I'm..."

"it's ok, alphys," Sans sighed, regrowing his eternal smile, "we've always just been together, so we never really thought about it that much."

"YEAH. SANS TOOK CARE OF ME WHEN I WAS A KID, AND NOW I TAKE CARE OF HIM NOW THAT HE'S A LAZY SACK OF BONES!"

"you're too good to me, pap."

"I KNOW!"

It smelled like some complex feelings.

…

and bones.

* * *

The rest of the day passed fairly quickly as everybody returned to their homes and routines. Frisk went home to Toriel, Undyne and Alphys sat down watching some anime, after the wrestling of course, and the skeleton brothers watched Mettaton on television. A few hours, and a re-reading of "Fluffy Bunny" later, Papyrus was fast asleep in bed while Sans stood out in the hall, staring at his own bedroom door for a moment before going downstairs into the kitchen.

He held a glass of water in his hands and began to stare at it, his head filled with a myriad of thoughts from the day. He wasn't ready to sleep anyway, so he sat down and glared ahead at his drink, complete with pink straw, dwelling on just about everything. His journal, his dreams, his powers...

...Frisk's face.

A heavy weight fell on his chest as he remember the fearful look Frisk shot him earlier. He felt his heart ache as he ran his hands under his white t-shirt to feel his ribs. They were all there, but it was almost as if he could feel...

"did i use my powers on frisk? yeah, i did. i killed frisk, and then..."

His memory of the timeline resets were hazy and chaotic at best, and he could never pin down the details. There were emotions, feelings that carried over, but they didn't have any context. Memories stacked on top of memories, like writing on same line over and over again with different colors of ink. The colors were there, but the words were lost. All he had to go on was what he wrote in his journal, the one thing he managed to carry through the resets with what waning determination he had.

He'd always wondered if Frisk remembered everything, and today proved it.

"dammit...i didn't want, none of us wanted..."

He clutched his head in his hands and pressed his face into the table, breathing deeply to keep his emotions in check. He hadn't felt this way in a long time, his apathy usually kept it under wraps. When he stilled himself again, he rested his head on one arm, pointing his other at the glass.

The glass began to glow blue, and floated in front of him. He began to wave his arm back and forth almost like a conductor, swaying the glass in turn. He started to feel at ease at the sound of the ice clinking against the sides. The straw began to slide up out of the glass, so he raised his other hand, his magic glowing around the straw and pushing it back down. For some reason, Sans never felt the passage of time, as hours flew by with him just swinging a glass in the air. There was something oddly comforting about it, just letting it flow from one side to the next.

 _Can't keep dodging forever._

Sans gasped and shot straight up, losing focus for just a moment. Just that one moment was all it took for the glass to plummet toward the table. Sans didn't catch it in time before...

THUNK.

The glass had managed to land upright, but water and ice splashed onto the table. Sans growled for a moment, grabbing the towel off of the fridge door to wipe it up. He'd never hear the end of it if Papyrus had found water stains on the table.

He sat back down in a huff, staring at the glass again and noticing the sound of the clock ticking behind him. Another sleepless night, but it wasn't exactly a new experience. Every time he wasn't around Papyrus, he just didn't feel like sleeping. He didn't feel like he even _could._

The near-silence was broken by the sound of a door opening upstairs.

"...SANS?"

Papyrus descended the stairs and entered the kitchen.

"hey, pap, couldn't sleep?"

"SANS, ARE YOU OKAY?" Papyrus asked wearily, rubbing sleep from his eye-sockets.

"yeah, never better."

Papyrus gave a low growl as he sat in the chair opposite his brother. "YOU'RE A POOR LIAR."

Sans gave a small chuckle. "heh, guess i'm just too lazy to try and fool you. sorry."

"SANS, WOULD YOU...COULD YOU TELL ME WHAT'S BEEN BOTHERING YOU? YOU'VE BEEN WORRYING ME FOR AWHILE NOW."

"aw, man, i'm sorry pap. i'm just tired, is all. i'm still not entirely used to being on the surface, and..."

"THAT'S NOT IT."

"sure it is, i mean, we've still got a long way to go with the humans."

"SANS. YOU'RE WORRIED ABOUT FRISK, RIGHT?"

Papyrus always hit his target. He never, ever missed, even now.

"SANS, DO YOU TRUST FRISK?"

"i...thought i did, y'know? frisk reset our timeline over and over again and i thought i could trust them, but now, we're here. how long are we going to stay here before i wake up again in snowdin? we didn't 'belong' there, but do we belong here, either?"

"I HAVE A THEORY."

"papyrus..."

"I'VE BEEN THINKING ABOUT WHAT YOU TOLD ME, ABOUT FRISK RESETTING TIMELINES IN THE UNDERGROUND. IT WAS LIKE A...PUZZLE, YOU KNOW? I WANTED TO KNOW WHY OR HOW, BUT COULDN'T FIGURE IT OUT. BUT...YOU KNOW WHAT I NOTICED?"

I NOTICED THAT FRISK HASN'T RESET A SINGLE TIME SINCE WE GOT UP HERE. WE'VE BEEN HERE FOR SIX MONTHS, AND EVER SINCE THEN, FRISK HAS GONE TO SCHOOL EVERY SINGLE DAY. THEY LEAVE SMILING, BUT THERE WERE DAYS WHEN FRISK CAME HOME ALL QUIET. AND ONE DAY...FRISK CAME HOME CRYING."

"what? when did that happen?!"

"YOU WERE ASLEEP ON THE COUCH, SO I PICKED THEM UP."

"what happened?"

"BULLIES AT SCHOOL, OR AT LEAST, THAT'S WHAT TORIEL TOLD ME. THEY MADE FUN OF FRISK FOR BEING FRIENDS WITH US 'WEIRDOS' AS THEY CALLED US. HOW SADDENING, RIGHT?"

"horrible. but...what are you getting at?"

"WELL, I WAS THINKING ABOUT HOW AMAZING THE POWER TO RESET WOULD BE. THINK ABOUT IT, YOU COULD ALWAYS MAKE ABSOLUTELY SURE YOUR DAY WAS AS PERFECT AS IT COULD BE. YOU COULD MAKE THE RIGHT DECISIONS EACH AND EVERY TIME, YOU COULD PREDICT AND AVOID NEGATIVE OUTCOMES. DOESN'T THAT SOUND INCREDIBLE?"

"...yeah."

"SO WHY HASN'T FRISK USED IT? WHY DID THEY COME HOME CRYING WHEN THEY COULD'VE RESET AND HAVE IT NOT HAPPEN AT ALL?"

"you're...wow, you're right."

"I THINK THAT FRISK EITHER DOESN'T WANT TO RESET ANY MORE, OR MAYBE THEY CAN'T. MAYBE SOMETHING IN THE UNDERGROUND LET THEM HAVE THAT POWER, OR MAYBE THEY WERE STUCK, JUST LIKE YOU WERE. LIKE WE ALL WERE, I SUPPOSE."

Sans looked his brother dead in the face and smiled, a tear beginning to form in his left eye. He'd never thought of it like that before, he'd spent all his time focused on why Frisk was resetting the timelines, that he never once stopped to think on how it was happening in the first place.

"YOU OKAY?"

"yeah, i just...that makes me a lot happier than i thought i'd be."

"YOU SEE? I JUST WISH...YOU'D TRUST ME A BIT MORE."

"i...okay, you're right. i'm sorry, i just don't want you to worry about me."

"WELL THAT'S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. WHENEVER YOU'RE SAD, I'LL WORRY ABOUT YOU. I PROMISE."

"thanks, pap. that means a lot."

They smiled at each other in silence for a moment.

"so...why are you up, anyway? couldn't sleep?"

"I HEARD A NOISE DOWNSTAIRS. WHAT WERE YOU DOING?"

"ah, that."

Sans flared his left eye back to life again, lifting the glass with his magic and swaying it back and forth. "i was just...moving this around and thinking about these powers we had. i lost focus for a bit and dropped it, sorry for waking you up."

"OH, I WAS ALREADY AWAKE ANYWAY. I..."

Papyrus' eyes shifted to the side as he sighed.

"I...HAD A NIGHTMARE."

"a nightmare? you haven't had a nightmare since you were a little kid. heh, must've been a doozy," Sans chuckled, the glass lifting higher and higher as he moved it over toward the kitchen sink.

"SANS...DO YOU TRUST ME?"

"yeah. yeah of course, why? what'd you have a nightmare about? do you remember it?"

A mixture of unease and confusion showed in Papyrus' eyes as he rubbed his hands together nervously.

"THEN CAN YOU TELL ME WHO..."

Sans tilted his head.

"...WHO IS...'GASTER'?"

It suddenly smelled like broken glass.


	3. A Small Shock

_"But I've been where you're going,  
and it's not worth knowing,  
burning the days and just carrying on..."_  
-Vertical Horizon, "Carrying On"

* * *

"SANS! YOU MUST BE MORE CAREFUL!" Papyrus shrieked as he immediately grabbed a broom to sweep up the remnants of the broken glass. "WHAT IF FRISK CAME OVER AND STEPPED ON THIS?!"

Sans didn't say anything. He didn't even move. Not one single bone out of place as his brother discarded the fragments into the trash can.

"...SANS?"

No response.

"SANS?!" Papyrus waved his hand in front of his brother's eyes.

Still didn't move.

"SANS!" Papyrus snapped his bony fingers.

Nope.

Papyrus dashed upstairs to his room, the sound of clothes and armor being thrown about in a hurried panic filling the air. "A-HA!" could be heard before he ran down the stairs, jumping the last five steps or so and landing with a thud.

"HAVEN'T USED THIS SINCE I WAS A KID."

He looked at it resting in his hand for a moment. A small silver whistle, with an orange lanyard attached. He preferred red, but this would do.

Papyrus placed the whistle between his teeth and forced air out of his mouth as best he could. He had to pinch the sides of his mouth to maximize the airflow. Its shrill ringing noise echoed throughout the household, but that didn't matter now. What mattered was...

"wha-? what happened?!" Sans stared at his hand, and then back at Papyrus. "...bro?"

Papyrus gave a heavy sigh of relief. "I HAVE NEVER SEEN YOU DO THAT."

"...what, use my powers? i just did that at the lab earlier today, remember."

"SANS. YOU STOPPED. YOU COMPLETELY STOPPED MOVING AND DIDN'T RESPOND TO ANYTHING I WAS SAYING."

"i...i did? it was just..."

Papyrus sat back down and grabbed Sans' raised hand with both of his, holding it dearly. "YOU'RE FRIGHTENING ME, SANS. YOU'RE REALLY STARTING TO FRIGHTEN ME."

Sans gave the best fake smile he could "h-hey, it's fine, bro. really, i'm..."

"DON'T YOU DARE SAY YOU'RE 'FINE!'"

It sounded like an order. Something he wasn't entirely used to, something he thought he'd left behind a long time ago. He almost froze up again, and he fought with his body to keep from repeating himself. Sans looked down at both their hands and rested his face upon them, breathing heavily.

"DON'T...DON'T LIE TO ME, OKAY?"

"...ok." Sans' voice was shaky at best.

The quiet crept over them like a cold fog. Papyrus released his brother's hand, resting his own in his lap as he looked longingly to the side, hoping for answers in the stillness.

"i don't want you to think that i don't trust you, pap."

"THEN..."

Sans' smile became strangely desperate. "it's just that...i've been the only one who's known about all of this for so long, y'know? and even if i managed to tell you, we'd just reset and you'd forget it all again, and what if you didn't believe me next time? what if i started to annoy you so much that you'd never want to..."

"OUT OF THE QUESTION."

"huh?"

"SANS, I...ADMIT THAT I STILL DON'T ENTIRELY UNDERSTAND EVERYTHING. AND THAT BOTHERS ME...A LOT. I DISLIKE UNSOLVABLE PUZZLES."

"yeah, but..."

"BUT NOTHING. SANS, YOU'VE BEEN DOING THIS, ALL BY YOURSELF, FOR HOWEVER LONG, AND YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE HAD TO. DID YOU EVEN TALK TO ANYBODY ELSE ABOUT THIS?"

"everyone. you, asgore, alphys, undyne, a few others. everybody forgets once we go back. i remember bits and pieces, and it's always more than anybody else can even seem to recall. my journal helps me fill in the gaps, but there's always fragments that stick out."

"ARE THEY...HAPPY FRAGMENTS?"

"not...usually." Sans rubbed a non-existent wound on his chest.

"...OH, SANS."

"...but not always! i mean, i have a few great ones with you in there, y'know? like when we were making those snowmen while waiting for the human, and you got all mad at me for just writing my name in ketchup on a lump of snow, remember?"

"I...DO REMEMBER THAT. IT WAS ONE OF YOUR BETTER LUMPS."

"in fact, all of the happier times were with you. they're the only good ones i remember. i think that's why didn't want to bother you with all this."

"BECAUSE YOU DIDN'T WANT TO UPSET ME?"

"kinda, yeah. i mean...pap, you have no idea just how amazing you are, y'know? you're probably the nicest person on this entire planet. you've got the biggest heart, and i dunno if i could feel good about dragging that down. i mean, i know i'm doing that by keeping you in the dark too, so..."

Papyrus managed a soft smile. "HEH...I GUESS WHEN YOU PUT IT THAT WAY, I APPRECIATE IT, BUT I WANT TO HELP YOU TOO, SANS. NO BROTHER OF MINE IS GOING TO SUFFER ALONE."

Sans bowed his head toward the table again and grasped the back of his skull, giving a heavy, heart-felt sigh.

It smelled like an inspiring level of empathy.

"i'm a real mess, huh?"

"WELL...YES. BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN WE CAN'T START CLEANING IT UP."

Papyrus' brutal honestly landed a critical hit on Sans' funny-bone. His laughter began to shake the table before he lifted his head and turned his gaze toward the whistle laying next to his brother.

"...is that your 'i'm lost' whistle? i didn't think you still had that?"

"OF COURSE I DO! YOU TOLD ME TO NEVER LOSE IT, SO THAT YOU'D NEVER LOSE ME."

Sans memory flashed back to that moment when a very young Papyrus had gotten lost in the forest outside of Snowdin. When Sans rushed through the snow, teleporting back and forth trying to find his brother, finally deciding to warp to the top of the tallest tree. After locating Papyrus, he carried the scared child to the item shop and bought a pair of whistles, and gave the orange one to his brother.

"...so if you get lost, i'll find you."

"YEAH. YOU STILL HAVE YOURS, RIGHT?"

Sans nodded and reached into his shirt collar, pulling out a whistle with a blue lanyard attached to it. "i don't take mine off, actually. helps me sleep sometimes."

"THE NOISE HELPS YOU SLEEP? WEIRD."

"not the noise, bonehead. just...having it. kinda like staying in your room helps me sleep, but i can't do that every night, it's weird."

"WEIRD? IT'S NOT WEIRD. IF YOU NEED TO SLEEP, YOU CAN ALWAYS..."

"i guess. i just think i'm bothering you every time i do it, since it's always in the middle of the night."

"IT DOESN'T BOTHER ME. IT REALLY DOESN'T."

"thanks, bro."

Sans kept looking at the whistle. He let it roll back and forth over his fingers a few times before firmly grasping it and looking back up at his brother.

"did i really freeze up?"

"YEAH, WHEN I ASKED YOU ABOUT..."

"...gaster. right. you said you had a nightmare, do you remember any of it?"

"I ACTUALLY REMEMBER...ALL OF IT, STRANGELY."

"tell me."

"ALRIGHT."

* * *

Papyrus found himself standing within a strange, empty place. It wasn't devoid of light, but strangely, it felt like there wasn't _enough_ light, either. It was as if it was in a permanent state of dark, stormy weather. Somewhere out there was a sun, a light, but it was obscured, leaving everything in dark shade of gray.

He looked around for a moment, and then found it strange that he was able to so strongly control his own movements. He'd heard of it before, lucid dreaming, but hadn't experienced it himself. He had to fight himself for control at points, taking labored steps forward that felt like he was slogging through tar. Eventually, his mind's limits gave away, and he was able to freely move.

It smelled like absolutely nothing at all.

"WHERE...AM I?"

He instinctively grasped for the whistle he kept around his neck, but it wasn't there. He looked down to find himself still in his pajamas, rather than his "battle body."

"RIGHT. I'M DREAMING. THE WHISTLE ISN'T HERE. HOW TROUBLING."

A sound grated from behind him. It was faint, but it sounded terrible, like the electronic screeching from the modem on his computer back in Snowdin. It sounded like a cacophony of distant beeps and scratches; of solemn industrial groans and uplifting notification sounds.

He turned toward the noise and began to march forward, finding it difficult without any visual landmarks to guide him. All he had was the sound, getting louder and louder.

"ANYBODY THERE?"

The source of the noise wasn't visible, but it was close. Papyrus stepped to the left, and back to the right, and could hear the sound audibly moving with his position. He was here, but there was nothing to show.

The noise stopped.

An inky black ooze began to rise from the "floor," then. It writhed back and forth a bit in an attempt to gain a form. Two arms slowly grew out of the darkness, with two white hands with large empty holes capping the ends. Finally, a white, smiling face gazed at Papyrus with an almost saddening level of kindness. Two long cracks rose and fell from its right and left eyes, respectively.

It looked almost like a skull in structure.

"H-HELLO! ARE YOU ANOTHER SKELETON?"

" **...Do Not..."**

The words boomed within Papyrus' skull, and felt like they were coming from inside. He again had to fight with himself to maintain his composure as the vibrations washed over him.

"D-DO YOU KNOW WHERE WE ARE? THIS PLACE IS...UNSETTLING ME."

 **"This Place...Not...You Should..."**

"ARE...YOU OKAY? YOU'RE NOT SPEAKING CLEARLY."

 **"...Forget...Name..."**

"NAME? OH, SORRY, WHERE ARE MY MANNERS? MY NAME IS PAPYRUS! FUTURE MEMBER OF THE ROYAL GUARD! ...IF IT'S STILL AROUND! WHAT IS YOUR NAME?"

 **"Papyrus...? Can't...Recall..."**

"WELL, YOU SHOULD TRY! I COULDN'T IMAGINE IF I'D FORGOTTEN MY OWN NAME, OR EVEN SANS, OR..."

The being shrieked. **"Sans?! SansSansSansSansSansSansSansSans!"**

"YOU KNOW SANS? DO YOU KNOW MY BROTHER?"

 **"Brother...Sans? SansSansSansSansSans Don'tDon'tDon'tDon'tDon'tDon't"**

"YOU KNOW HIM? HOW DO YOU KNOW SANS? WHO ARE YOU?"

The being shook its "head" back and forth as his "hands" clutched it at the sides. **"MistakeMistakeMisMisMisMisMisMistakeTakeTakeTakeTake"**

"ARE YOU IN PAIN? DO YOU NEED HELP?"

The being suddenly stopped and stared right through Papyrus.

 **"Help...No...You...Must..."**

"DON'T BE SILLY, IF YOU NEED SOMETHING, JUST ASK!"

 **"My...Name..."**

"DO YOU REMEMBER?"

 **"GaGaGasGasGast...Gas...TerTerTerTerTerTerrrrrrrrrrrrrrr..."**

"GAS...TER?"

 **"Gaster."**

"OKAY, SO YOUR NAME IS GASTER."

 **"Gaster."**

"YES, OKAY, NOW WE'RE GETTING SOMEWHERE!"

 **"Gaster."**

"UM...YES, WE'RE PAST THAT POINT. ARE YOU ALRIGHT? IF YOU NEED HELP, I COULD..."

 **"Help...Me?"**

Papyrus was trying to hide his irritation. "YES. MAYBE I CAN DO SOMETHING FOR YOU?"

 **"It's Too Late, Too Late, Too Late, Too Late, Too Late, I'm Gone Gone Gone Gone Gone Gone Gone Gone..."**

"IT'S ONLY TOO LATE IF YOU GIVE UP! NOW, MAYBE TELL ME WHERE WE ARE? WHERE YOU ARE, SINCE I'M THE ONE DREAMING, AFTER ALL."

 **"Dream? I...Am...In..."**

The being's black, shapeless body began to spread to "fill" the corners of the entire place, until there was nothing but a huge, dark wall in front of Papyrus, with Gaster's face still smiling in the middle.

 **"The Void It Is Here I Am Here And It Listens And Whispers To Me Always Whispering Always Taunting I'm Afraid To Die I'm Afraid To Die I'm Too Afraid Of Dying And It Knows And It Mocks Me And I'm Going To Fall Down And It Won't Leave I Won't Leave!"**

"WAIT!"

 **"You Have To Get Away The Void Is Always Calling Always Listening Always Waiting Always Wanting You and Sans Have To Stay Away Stay Away Keep Me From Falling Forever You Have To Help Sans Stay Away!"**

"HOW DO YOU KNOW SANS? OR ME? WHO ARE YOU?"

 **"Stay Away Papyrus Stay Away Or You Too Will Be Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing NOTHINGNOTHINGNOTHINGNOTHINGNOTHING"**

"AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

The skeleton stumbled as he turned to run from the blackness that began to reach out to him. It was catching up slowly, but Papyrus grit his teeth and broke into a sprint, using all the years of training to keep himself regulated as he ran.

 _LONG STRIDES, BREATHE IN SYNC WITH THE MOVEMENTS, KEEP GOING!_

 **"You Have To Get Away Have To Get Away Or The Void Will Remember You And You Will Return To Me And You Have To Stay Away Or I Will Hurt You And I Can't Hurt You You Are..."**

"GET AWAY!"

He ran for what felt like dozens of miles, finally beginning to tire out. He tumbled to the ground, wheezing and clutching his ribs as he turned to face his assailant. The blackness reared back like a great tide, moving forward until...

"NO!"

Papyrus' hands raised instinctively, summoning a massive wall of bones between himself and Gaster. Gaster's body crashed against the magic like waves on the shore, then slinked further back in a strange look of...defeat?

"I WANT TO HELP YOU! I KNOW I CAN, AND IF I CAN'T, MAYBE SANS AND I BOTH COULD..."

 **"Please..."**

A strange smell wafted through the air.

It smelled like a bright crimson smile.

 **"Don't...Forget."**

* * *

Sans huffed. "don't forget. makes it sound so easy."

"WHAT?"

"nothing, sorry. is that everything?"

"YES, I WOKE UP AND HEARD YOU DOWN HERE, SO I CAME DOWN."

Sans stood up and closed his eyes. "gimme a sec," he said, before blinking out of existence for a moment. Papyrus could hear movement upstairs in Sans' room before his brother popped back again, holding a large book. Sans opened it and let it land on the table before sitting back down.

Sans clicked the top of his pen and began to frantically write everything he could remember about what Papyrus had just said. Papyrus sat there in a strangely reverent silence, as he hadn't seen his brother try so hard at anything in a long time. It was...impressive, really, that he could write that fast while leaving the writing in a coherent enough structure to recognize.

"okay, so he said he was in...'the void'?"

"I THINK SO. I MEAN, HE TALKED REALLY FAST SO I HAD TO REALLY FOCUS TO KEEP TRACK. WHY? WHAT IS...THE VOID?"

"it's...something that we theorized about way back then. hard to explain."

"BACK THEN?"

"back when i worked at the core. with...doctor gaster."

"GASTER?!"

"yeah. that's who gaster is. he built the core, but something happened and he..."

Sans dropped the pen as he hand began to shake. The tremors moved up his arm, into his shoulder, to his spine. It crawled its way up to his brain.

"...he fell. i think."

"YOU THINK?"

Sans held his hand to his forehead, slowing his shaking until it stopped.

"i gotta be honest with you about this, i promised, right?"

"OKAY."

"pap, i'm...starting to forget. there's something about gaster, and i can't keep a firm grip on it, y'know? i remember working with him, and i remember he was working to get rid of the barrier, and i helped him, and..."

"HOW CAN YOU FORGET?"

"it's not just me, i think. nobody remembers him. he built the entire friggin' _core_ and nobody can remember his name. isn't that just a little bit weird?"

"DON'T BE SILLY, EVERYBODY KNOWS THAT THE CORE WAS BUILT BY..."

Sans held on to a bit of hope.

"...BY..." Papyrus' face began to show signs of distress.

"see what I mean?"

"WELL, IF YOU SAY HE BUILT THE CORE, THEN HE BUILT THE CORE, RIGHT?"

"i guess."

Sans flipped through his journal to find the bookmark he'd been using. He pulled it out and turned it around to show Papyrus.

"there's also this."

"A PICTURE?"

It was crudely drawn, almost as if it were by a child, but the faces were clear enough to make out. On the left was Sans in a lab coat, in the middle was a taller skeleton wearing a black turtleneck under his own lab coat, and on the right, a much smaller skeleton with a big smile.

"THAT'S YOU! AND IN THE MIDDLE...IS THAT ME?"

"nope. pretty sure that's gaster."

"THAT'S NOT WHAT HE LOOKED LIKE IN MY DREAM."

"yeah, probably not."

"SO WHO'S ON THE RIGHT?"

"...you can't tell? papyrus, i think that's supposed to be _you._ "

"ME? BUT I CAN'T REMEMBER ANYTHING ABOUT THIS PICTURE."

"yeah, that makes two of us."

"YOU CAN'T EITHER? WHY?"

"i dunno, but it bothers me now that you're _also_ having dreams about gaster."

"YOU'VE HAD DREAMS LIKE MINE?"

"yeah, for awhile now. they're pretty similar, too. always telling me to 'stay away,' always telling me 'don't forget.' in fact, go ahead and flip that picture over."

Papyrus did so and gave a puzzled look. "W-WHAT?!"

On the back were the words "don't forget" written in red pen.

"yeah, now you know why this is buggin' me. i'm forgetting things. not just things that happened during the resets, but i'm starting to forget about my work at the core, what gaster worked on, how we worked together, it's fading, and i don't want it to."

Papyrus sat back in his chair and folded his arms, contemplating recent events. One particular detail really stuck out to him though, and it was that this "Gaster" person in the drawing looked suspiciously like himself in stature and skull shape.

"YOU'RE HOLDING SOMETHING BACK."

Sans' head shot up in shock, before his smile widened again. "y-yeah, sorry, i'm doing it again. b-but this time it's not because i don't want to tell you! i just need time to...sort all this out so i can explain it, y'know? i don't want to forget."

"SANS, WE CAN'T SOLVE THIS IF YOU CAN'T TELL ME ANYTHING."

"you're right."

"PROMISE ME."

Sans always hated making promises. "okay, papyrus, i promise. but i need a couple of days to get things sorted out, okay? can it wait until then?"

"...I SUPPOSE. AND I KNOW YOU HATE MAKING PROMISES, SO I TRUST YOU."

"thanks," Sans said, closing his journal and standing up to stretch and yawn. "man, we've been down here forever, time to get back to bed, huh?"

"YEAH," Papyrus nodded solemnly.

"oh, what's that look for? i know you can't sleep without a story, right? c'mon, for putting up with all my crap, you're gettin' a bonus chapter tonight."

"WOWIE! REALLY?!"

"yeah, but in return, you think i can stay with you tonight?"

"OF COURSE!" Papyrus almost leapt out of his chair as he ran upstairs.

It smelled like bones and time ticking ticking ticking away.


	4. Heartache

_"I'm here, wide awake again...  
This fear is something I call a friend,  
hello again..."_  
-Vertical Horizon, "It's Over"

* * *

Papyrus found himself adrift in the empty gray space again.

It was different, but almost exactly the same. He could feel something was off, but couldn't tell if it was better or worse. There was no terrible noise, but there was no silence to creep up on him either. He clutched for his whistle, but again, he found he was dreaming.

"H-HELLO? SANS?" He glanced around for the brother he was currently sharing a bed with.

His words seemed to float away from him. They didn't echo, but he could just hear them spreading from all around like a sphere of confusion. From behind him, he could hear it just a little bit closer than the rest, like it had hit a wall.

He turned to find a person, no, a skeleton, sitting in a computer chair, resting its head on its left hand, concealing its face. It wore a black turtleneck sweater under a white lab coat that draped behind the chair toward the floor. Papyrus knew this figure right away.

"...ARE YOU...GASTER?"

The skeleton gasped, almost as if it were surprised that anybody else was even here. His hand shifted to the side of his head, showing Papyrus that this person, this..."Gaster," looked almost exactly like him, albeit a bit older somehow. Deep fractures ran from above his right eye-socket and from below his left one, the only real signs of scars that skeletons could really show.

 **"I'm...Here? You're Here With Me? You're Real?"**

"YOU'RE GASTER, RIGHT? YOU LOOK...DIFFERENT THAN LAST TIME."

The figure looked at the skeleton in pajamas with a puzzled look, then shook it off. **"Yes. I Am Doctor Gaster. Do You Know Me?"**

"I DO! WE MET LAST TIME I DREAMED ABOUT YOU! ...A FEW HOURS AGO I THINK. YOU LOOK A LOT BETTER THAN LAST TIME, ARE YOU FEELING ALRIGHT?"

 **"Last...Time? I Don't Remember This 'Last Time,' Sorry."**

"OH, WELL YOU LOOKED LIKE A...SOMETHING, AND WHEN I MENTIONED 'SANS' YOU KINDA WENT CRAZY AND ATTACKED ME, BUT THAT'S OKAY BECAUSE YOU DIDN'T HURT ME OR ANYTHING AND..."

 **"Sans?! Do You Know Sans?!"**

"OF COURSE! SANS IS MY BROTHER! HE TOOK CARE OF ME WHEN I WAS YOUNG, AND NOW THAT I'M OLDER I TAKE CARE OF HIM BECAUSE HE'S..."

 **"Brother? Interesting...Why Did I Reach You Instead?"**

"...PLEASE STOP INTERRUPTING ME, IT'S RUDE."

 **"Are You Close To Sans Right Now?"**

"YES! WHEN HE HAS TROUBLE SLEEPING, WE USUALLY SHARE MY BED. HE'S RIGHT NEXT TO ME, SLEEPING, AND..."

 **"I Was Trying To Reach Sans, Not You."**

The words seemed to punch Papyrus in the gut, or rather, where his gut _would_ be if he had one. For one brief moment, he thought he had something special, even if it was confusing and a bit scary. He thought that maybe this could finally be the key to bringing his brother out of the shroud of apathy he'd always kept himself under. He thought that maybe he was special enough to mean something to somebody.

It smelled like true isolation within a stable chaos.

"DO YOU WANT ME TO GO?"

The doctor sighed, realizing that he'd said something wrong. He was...used to it, at least. He wasn't very good at keeping a sense of tact, and in this place, keeping anything at all was a trial in itself.

 **"I Apologize. Please, Listen To Me A Moment."**

Papyrus smiled and sat down in a cross-legged position, listening intently like a child to his favorite story.

 **"I Am In The Void. You Must Stay Away. This Place Doesn't Exist, And By Proxy, I No Longer Exist Because I Am Here. This Place Is Non-Existence. Oblivion."**

"BUT YOU'RE HERE."

 **"I Am Here, But Not Here. I'm A Glitch, One That May Be Reproduced But To No Avail. Sans...Sans Has To Remember."**

"HE MADE ME A PROMISE. HE PROMISED ME TO EXPLAIN EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED TO YOU. I'M SURE THAT HE'LL REMEMBER YOU BETTER THAN EVER!"

 **"If He Forgets, I..."**

"I'LL REMEMBER YOU TOO, OKAY?"

Gaster began to shake as he clutched at his sides. **"I Am...Afraid Of The Consequences. It Won't Let Me Go. It Wants Me. Sans Is The Only Thing Keeping It Away."**

"IT?"

Behind the doctor's chair, a shadow began to flow and twist into a figure resembling that of a human child. Its face was blank, save for a wicked red smile. Within its chest glowed a familiar bright red light.

 **"It Wants My Body. It Already...Has A Human..."**

 _"Time's up, Doctor. Time to go back to sleep."_

"WHO IS..."

Gaster stopped shaking and gave a very slow nod of acceptance. The shadow then grew and contorted, swallowing Gaster and the chair in one horrifying swirl of darkness and magic. When it settled again, the remains had formed back into the familiar slimy figure that Papyrus had experienced in his previous dream.

 **"The Void Has Eyes And Ears And A Mouth And A Mind And It Always Wants More Always Wants Always Always Always Never Never Never Never!"**

"DOCTOR! I...I HAVE TO FIND A WAY TO HELP YOU! I'LL...!"

The figure's "head" formed back into Gaster's face for a brief moment before Papyrus was yanked back into consciousness.

 **"Don't Forget."**

* * *

Papyrus gasped for air as his cognizance returned to him. He glanced around the room for a bit, surprised at how much sunlight had shown itself in. He felt strangely groggy, almost as if he'd slept for too...

He looked at the clock.

"IT'S EIGHT THIRTY?! I OVERSLEPT! THE HUMAN IS GOING TO BE SO DISAPPOINTED!"

"relax, bro. i already took frisk to school, told 'em you were really tired today."

"SANS?"

Papyrus looked over to see his brother sitting against the edge of the foot of his bed. Wearing just a white t-shirt and his favorite shorts, sitting cross-legged while looking over his journal. The pen in his mouth was starting to show wear from being chewed on a bit too much. Papyrus sat up, only for a ray of sunlight to blast him right in the face; curtains weren't always perfect, after all.

"heh heh, mornin' 'sunshine.'" Sans chuckled as his brother flinched.

"GAH. SANS..."

"sorry 'bout the alarm, by the way. you were...talking in your sleep a bit. i figured it was...y'know, important."

"WELL, I SUPPOSE IT WAS."

"gaster again?"

"HOW DID YOU..."

Sans slammed the journal shut with a loud thud. "because you've never talked in your sleep. not once. not ever."

"REALLY? WOWIE, YOU'RE...OBSERVANT!"

"i just pay attention to stuff, that's all. y'know, how people act and such. s'how i figure out things about them. so i figured since all this gaster stuff is new to you, then sleeptalking is too, y'know?"

"I...GUESS?"

"so what happened this time?" Sans asked, climbing up onto the bed, turning his head to face Papyrus.

"IT WAS DIFFERENT. EVERYTHING WAS MORE NORMAL, I SUPPOSE. GASTER LOOKED...WELL, HE LOOKED LIKE HE DOES IN THAT PICTURE, ONLY MORE...WELL DRAWN."

"...you mean real?"

"YEAH, NYEH HEH HEH..."

The two laughed for a bit before Sans opened the journal and clicked his pen.

"okay, so what did he say?"

"HE WAS LOOKING FOR YOU. IN FACT, HIM REACHING ME WAS AN ACCIDENT, BUT BECAUSE WE WERE SO CLOSE TOGETHER HE GOT ME INSTEAD."

"yeah, okay, makes sense i guess."

"HE TOLD ME HE WAS IN THE VOID AND THAT THE VOID DOESN'T EXIST."

"hmm, well yeah. we're still not sure what "the void" is, but if he's there, then he's...gone."

"TOLD ME TO STAY AWAY."

"...yep."

"AND SAID THAT YOU WERE THE ONLY REASON THAT 'IT' HASN'T GOTTEN HIM YET. BECAUSE YOU REMEMBER HIM."

"...'it'?"

"HE DIDN'T EXPLAIN WHAT IT WAS. HE JUST SAID THAT YOU WERE THE ONLY THING KEEPING IT AWAY. HE SAID IT 'WANTED HIS BODY,' AND IT ALREADY HAD A HUMAN..."

Sans' eyes blacked out for a moment. "a human _what_ , papyrus?!"

"HE...GOT CUT OFF. THIS...SHADOW THING SWALLOWED HIM UP, AND HE TURNED INTO THAT THING FROM LAST TIME. HE SAID THAT THE VOID HAS EYES AND EARS AND A...MIND?"

The light returned to Sans' eyes as he began to frantically write down more and more into his journal. "eyes...and ears and...a mind...?"

"AND THEN HE TOLD ME..."

"don't forget. that's how he...ends all of these messages."

Papyrus grabbed his pillow and brought it in front of him, clutching it like a teddy bear. "I FEEL SO USELESS."

"nah, you're helpin' out in your own way, y'know?"

"REALLY?!"

"sure. i mean, we're both kinda in the dark here, but you're helping me learn new stuff about this. who knows, maybe my memory will come back and then gaster will...be okay...ish?"

Papyrus discarded the pillow immediately in order give a sideways hug to Sans. "THAT MEANS SO MUCH TO ME!"

"huh?"

It smelled like bones and of prayers being answered.

"I JUST...WANT TO HELP. THAT'S ALL I WANT TO DO. THAT'S ALL I'VE EVER REALLY WANTED TO DO FROM THE START."

Sans nuzzled a little in response. "yeah, i know. sorry, it's not your fault that i've been so...distant."

"WELL, YOU DID PROMISE..."

"yeah."

The embrace ended gently, Papyrus still leaning over Sans' shoulder to look at his journal. Sans sighed. "man...i don't know if i want to do this."

"DO WHAT?"

"that thing you said, about the void having a 'mind.' i have a hunch, but i'm going to have to do something i've been putting off for a long time."

"AND THAT IS..."

Sans swallowed hard. "i'm gonna have to go...talk to frisk. y'know, about all of this. the resets, about them, and how they've been since we've gotten to the surface, everything."

"SINCE WE'VE GOTTEN FREE? WHY IS THAT IMPORTANT?"

"you might not have noticed it, pap, but ever since we got up here on the surface...frisk hasn't said a word. they smile and laugh and cry, but they haven't uttered a single sentence since then."

"YEAH, I DID NOTICE THAT. I JUST FIGURED THEY WERE THE SILENT TYPE!"

"no, they talked all the time in the underground, remember? they called you almost every 25 feet so you could talk to them about where they were."

"...YOU'RE RIGHT."

"i think something's buggin' them. and i think this might be related somehow. i just got a hunch." he sighed again. "i really don't know if i'm ready for this though."

"THEN I'LL GO WITH YOU."

"papyrus, look, i appreciate it but...what frisk and i are going to talk about, it ain't going to be very happy. i mean it."

"THEN I'LL BE THERE TO LIGHTEN THE MOOD. HOW BAD COULD IT BE?"

"pretty bad, bro."

"DO YOU...NOT WANT ME TO COME WITH YOU?"

Sans eyes widened in shock. "oh, no no no it's not that! it's just that..."

Papyrus tilted his head.

"...heh, y'know what? sure. you can tag along. i might need the support."

"GREAT! THEN IT'S SETTLED, WE'LL PICK UP FRISK AFTER SCHOOL AND TALK."

"yeah. sounds great."

No it doesn't.

* * *

Knock knock.

The door to Alphys and Undyne's house creaked open nervously, with the doctor cautiously peering outside. "S-Sans?"

"hey, doc. mind if i come in?"

"Sure! Sure, come on in."

The skeleton stepped inside, dusting off his slippers on the mat before doing so as Alphys closed the door.

"Papyrus not with you?"

"nope. he's off visiting undyne and asgore. said he had to ask asgore for something."

"Huh. Alright, so what's the occasion?"

"heh, right to the point, eh, doc?"

"Well, you usually spend the afternoon napping, or at least that's what Papyrus says. But...well, even I know that something's bothering you."

Sans gave a low growl of self-disappointment. Was he really that transparent?

"i'm...starting to forget some things. important things, like what I helped work on at the core."

Alphys cocked her head to the side. "I forgot you worked there. Or at least...I think I forgot."

Sans gave her a knowing smile, one that always seemed to bother her. "i bet you forgot who _built_ the core, too."

"W-what? That's ridiculous! Of course I remember who built it. It was..."

Sans placed his hands in his pockets waiting for the response. He knew what it was going to be, he could read it in Alphys' face. The patterns were all lining up just as he'd predicted.

"I-it was..."

The patterns continued. Now the worry was starting to set in, the kind of worry that made one feel like everything was wrong, like everything was missing a critical piece. To most people, it would be a nagging fear, but to a scientist, it was a devastating blow to the intellect and ego.

"I..."

"it's okay, alphys. nobody remembers, 'cept for me."

"How is that possible?"

Sans gave an honest shrug. "guess i'm just lucky. but to answer the question, the core was built by doctor gaster, but i bet you don't remember the name, do you?"

Another blow caused Alphys to emotionally flinch. "I-I don't...and it really, really..."

"yeah, i know. it bugs you, right? well, i'm starting to forget some of these things, and that's what's bothering me, more or less."

"So...what did you need?"

Sans gave a familiar, almost unwilling sigh. "i need a copy of all the core's files and research data. records, surveillance tapes, the works."

"O-okay, I can do that. ...Why?"

"papyrus has been really bugging me to open up and tell him what's wrong. i need these to make sure i get everything right. if my memory's slipping up as bad as i think it is..."

The two walked past the kitchen into Alphys' lab, the door hissing shut with finality. The doctor sat down in her computer chair, spinning it around to approach her battlestation. She wiggled the mouse a bit, and the monitor blinked on, complete with a Mew Mew Kissy Cutie desktop theme that gave Sans a small chuckle.

"still hung up on that show, huh?"

"It's really good! You should watch it some time!"

"heh, i'll take your word for it."

Window after window opened up again and again, Alphys' quick work rooting through dozens if not hundreds of file folders within minutes. Sans found it strange, and at the same time fitting, that the files he sought after were buried under mountains of code and hard drive space.

"Here we are."

The familiar file transfer icons invoked their rites, as images of papers began to flutter into an image of a black box, namely the external hard drive sitting atop the nearby tower. Seven minutes left.

"Sans...what's on here, what I'm copying. It's not...exactly the most uplifting stories to tell."

"you're talking about your determination experiments."

Critical hit.

Alphys removed her glasses and rubbed her eyes with her fingers, breathing in and out slowly and audibly, trying to hold it together. She thought about saying something to fill the uncomfortable silence, but her nature left her speechless. She didn't even know why she was surprised, if anybody were to know about those, it would be him.

Sans placed a bony hand on her shoulder, which startled her for a second before she rested her head upon it.

"i know you were trying to do the right thing. trying to stop people from dying, there's nothing inherently wrong in that, it's just, y'know, something you can't really stop, in the end."

"Those failures- _my_ failures, th-they really shook m-me up. It didn't affect just me, it was those poor monsters who became those...things. It affected their families, their friends, I...I turned to more technological inventions because I thought I no longer had the right."

Four minutes left.

Sans removed his hand in a strangely understanding way, giving her the space he felt she needed. He could see these patterns showing their hand as well, to back off just enough to encourage somebody to come out of their own volition.

It smelled like atomic elements and atonement.

"Life and death, it's not something anybody can really stop. It's a cycle, right? Things die, return to the planet, and become matter. Maybe someday that matter becomes part of another living being, maybe even a monster. How could I possibly have thought that I had the right to stop something so important?"

Two minutes left.

"I've been thinking. We can't stop it, no. But...monsters haven't had anybody who really understood monster physiology that well. We never could explain the phenomenon of 'falling down,' that was just the name we gave it."

Thirty seconds.

"What if...we had somebody like that? We can't stop somebody from dying, but we could try our best to understand it, find a way to slow the process, to keep somebody alive as long as possible. Not with DETERMINATION, not with some kind of magical remedy that doesn't exist, but with actual facts."

Copy successful. At the moment, Sans didn't really care about that though. It was merely in his periphery.

"I've decided that maybe I...could do that. I could be the first 'monster doctor,' you know? Somebody who studies the real makeup of monsters. I mean, despite all of our different shapes, we're all made of magic, attuned to our souls, right? At the bottom of it, there's a basis for all of it. Maybe the answers are there too."

"maybe."

"What do you think?"

"i think that...anybody who could go through what you did, and make it out okay stands a pretty good chance of doing something great like that."

Alphys stood up and disconnected the external hard drive, turning around toward Sans. She held it out and placed it in his hands, but didn't let go just yet.

"I-I...didn't do it alone. I couldn't. I had friends. Friends who...understood me despite these failures of mine. Don't forget that."

"forget? forget what?"

"I haven't been around him that much, but even I could tell that Papyrus has been worried about you for months. Don't shut him out."

Sans cheshire-like grin returned. "heh, that's the whole point of this. i want to get the details right, because i have a lot of explaining to papyrus about all of this. doctor gaster, the core, all of it."

"I'd like to hear it too."

"i..."

She let go of the hard drive. "Please? I want to know, too. About this 'Gaster' person."

Sans sighed again, something he was starting to get used to just doing. "sure, okay, i could use somebody else to help explain some of the concepts to papyrus. not that he wouldn't get it, it's just that we tend to get wrapped up in the jargon sometimes."

"Sure."

"alright, i gotta get out of here. i promised papyrus we'd go pick up frisk together, and if i'm late he'll probably smother me with his motherly tendencies again. i'll give you a call when i'm...ready."

"Okay, sounds good."

It still doesn't.

* * *

The wind rushed over Sans and Papyrus' skulls, whistling strangely as it rolled over their contours. In the back seat of Papyrus' convertible, Frisk was enjoying the air rushing through their shaggy brown hair.

Sans turned around halfway. "hey kiddo, we were thinkin' of going to the park, you in?"

Frisk smiled and happily nodded.

"OF COURSE THEY'D WANT TO GO. WHO WOULDN'T WANT TO HANG OUT WITH THE GREAT PAPYRUS?! ...PLATONICALLY, OF COURSE."

Sans chuckled. "well, can't argue with that logic. better text tori just in case."

His bony fingers tapped on his phone in rapid succession, followed by the chime of completion. A few minutes later a second chime rang up, vibrating his phone.

 _That sounds lovely. Please be sure to have them home before dinner, will you not? -Toriel_

"man, she never lets up on that schtick, huh?"

"SCHTICK?"

"oh, nothing. she's just so proper about havin' good grammar, is all."

"UNLIKE SOME SKELETONS I KNOW," Papyrus grinned.

The car pulled into a smaller paved road as Papyrus put it into park. It was executed perfectly, with him adjusting his mirrors over and over again like a ritual. The three stepped out and stretched, walking toward a small path that led further in.

The park was really something to a monster, and the brothers never seemed to be tired of it. A large lake, surrounded by a lush shade of viridian, with a long paved path all around. All along the path they walked, they passed by several points of interest. Billboards telling the history of Lake Ebott, memorials placed in the honor of noteworthy citizens, and all under the shadow of Mount Ebott in the distance.

 _Beautiful day outside. Birds are singing, flowers are blooming..._

The words formed in his head but he didn't once let them slip out of his mouth. If Frisk remembered anything about these resets, he knew what he'd be saying. He still felt bad about scaring Frisk before with his gravity powers. Oh, who was he kidding?

He felt bad now. He felt bad about what he was about to do.

"HERE'S A GOOD SPOT, LET'S REST HERE."

They came upon a couple of unoccupied benches, which Sans immediately plopped down upon one and placed his hands inside his pockets, his usual nervous routine. Frisk sat beside him, kicking their feet back and forth since they just barely didn't reach the ground. Papyrus sat on adjacent bench, since his lanky frame and long legs took up the most space.

"s'nice," Sans commented.

They sat there in peace for a moment, but the inactivity began to bother Frisk. They turned toward Sans and cocked their head in a questioning look.

Sans sighed. "i'm really that easy to read nowadays, huh? man, i must be really slipping."

"SANS, YOU CAN DO THIS," Papyrus assured.

Frisk turned toward Papyrus for a second before whipping back to Sans. The puzzled look began to look more and more perturbing.

"so, uh...kiddo, i've been meaning to ask you about...well, everything."

Frisk's happy demeanor quickly turned to a somber one as they looked worriedly toward the ground, their feet no longer swaying.

"oh, no no no no, hey, hey frisk, it's okay bud. it's really okay! i just...need your help with something, that's all."

Frisk began to sniffle a bit, and Sans noticed a tear falling onto their leg. He sprung into action immediately and embraced his human friend as they buried their head into his bony chest.

"okay, okay, okay, i'm sorry. i'm sorry, this was a bad idea. i just wanted to know how you came to the underground in the first place. sorry, i'm so so so sorry kiddo."

"SANS..."

"no, papyrus, this wasn't a good idea, i can't just force frisk to open up like this, it's not fair. it ain't right, y'know? i...i know you've been having trouble..."

The two released each other as Frisk wiped their eyes on their sleeve. The tears began to dry up a bit as they looked at the ground again in contemplation.

"i know you've been quiet lately, and i know what that's like. i guess i should've thought this out better. i was gonna ask you about, y'know..."

Sans stood up and gazed out at the lake.

"but hey, if you're not ready to talk, that's fine. and if you don't ever wanna tell us, that's okay, too. we're still going to be your friends, we always wi-"

"I ran away."

Sans looked back at Frisk in the same state of shock that Papyrus had. The first words Frisk had said ever since they came up to the surface, and they hit hard. Even Sans had trouble maintaining his eternal smile after hearing them.

"what'd you say..."

"From home," Frisk said determinately, "I ran away from home."

It smelled like clean air and breakthroughs.


	5. Despite Everything

_"You don't know_  
 _Somebody's hurting,_  
 _holding it all in,_  
 _somebody can't let go of his heart,_  
 _but the truth is, it's painless,_  
 _letting your love show..."_  
-Skye, "Love Show"

* * *

To Frisk, Papyrus, and Sans, the beauty of the park no longer existed.

The child kept staring toward the paved part of the ground underneath the bench, while a seated Papyrus and a standing Sans looked on with saddened eyes. The entire park seemed to melt away into blue and green smudge in their peripheral vision, the sounds of birds chirping became nothing more than white noise lost in the wind.

"HUMAN...FRISK...WHEN YOU SAY 'RAN AWAY FROM HOME,' YOU MEAN..."

"From where I lived before. Before I met everybody."

Papyrus leaned in a little more. "SO...YOUR PARENTS..."

"I didn't...live with my parents."

Sans quietly made his way back to the bench and sat down, draping one arm over the back of the bench behind Frisk, not saying a word.

"I don't know who my parents are."

Sans sighed. "...foster home, huh?"

"I think that's what they called it. I lived with two people, and, well, it wasn't that great. It's way better now."

"BUT...TO RUN AWAY FROM HOME, FROM SAFETY LIKE THAT..."

"They fought. All the time. They never hurt me or the other two kids that I lived with, but when they fought, they'd just leave us all alone."

"all alone? that's...rough."

"We had an older 'sister' I guess. She knew how to cook, said she learned it from her older brother before he disappeared. She'd make us dinner when they were gone."

An orphan. Sans knew all too well how that kind of life went. He felt strangely fortunate to be a bit older than Frisk was when he became one, but having to take care of a young Papyrus, all the while trying to provide for even himself...

"One time, they both went away for a really long time. A really really _really_ long time."

"so...what'd you do?"

Frisk turned their gaze toward the distant mountain looming over the city. "We...could always see it. Mount Ebott. From our house it was a bit closer, so..."

"BUT...WHY?"

"I dunno. Because I wanted to see if I could find them, because of the rumors. Maybe I just wanted to leave, or maybe I didn't want to go back to school. Or maybe I just...felt I had to go there."

"school, huh? you...were picked on back then?"

"Yeah. I'm...going to the same school now. Some of the kids remember me. I...don't like it."

"i had a feelin' something like that was going on. s'why you've been all quiet, right? you...didn't exactly want to come back."

"N-no! I wanted to! ...I think."

"s'ok, kid."

Frisk began to sniffle again, but they rubbed their eyes in a determined effort to continue.

"So...I climbed the mountain. And it started to rain, so I found a cave to hide in. I was scared. I was really really scared. Because it was cloudy, it was really dark in there. But I got bored, started walking around and looking at the cave."

The human gave a tiny smile.

It smelled like dust, dew, and destiny.

"And I tripped. When I woke up, I was laying on a bed of yellow flowers, and I met Mom, and..."

"and that's that. you met us, and then we got up here."

"Yeah."

Frisk looked at Papyrus' understanding face as he tried to give his best encouraging smile, but he had no real words to give. He was beginning to learn, more and more, just how different everybody's lives truly were. They were all a new story to experience, for good or for ill. In a way, he loved it, but in another way, it truly hurt.

The human looked back towards Sans, whose face hadn't changed much.

"That face."

Sans' eyesockets widened.

"That's the face of somebody who...wants to know more. Somebody who looks...unsatisfied."

Critical hit.

Sans wasn't used to his own tricks being turned against him like that. His observation of patterns and numbers, of faces and vocal tones, he'd always felt at least a little proud of his ability to really nail what they were trying to tell. It was why he was so bothered by the fact that everybody could see right through him; because he knew that just because he could see these things, didn't mean he was able to mimic them when it mattered.

"heh, you really are special, kiddo. had you pegged from the start, didn't i?"

"Not...from the start, no. When we first met...for the very first time, you didn't trust me at all."

Now even Papyrus could read Sans' face like an open book. It was the face of somebody who regretted everything leading up to this moment, it was the face he'd seen earlier this morning in his bedroom, of his brother not ever wanting to do this, even once, in his entire life.

"...the first time. first. you're...talking about..."

"The resets." Frisk looked away.

Those two words shook Sans even more than the first ones Frisk spoke today. He pulled his hood over his head, which he then bowed, clutching it in his hands while resting his elbows on his knees. There was a part of him that hoped, _really_ hoped, that maybe Frisk didn't remember anything about it. But recent experiences already told him that it wasn't the case. Frisk becoming startled at his powers, no, at his eye.

 _Y-o-u-'d b-e d-e-a-d w-h-e-r-e y-o-u s-t-a-n-d-.  
_

"I-'m s-o-r-r-y-!"

The words echoed over the surface of the lake, and it felt like they were drifting into Mount Ebott itself. Papyrus had never heard his brother shout that loud before in his entire life. It was almost a different voice altogether, one that seemed to be far more sincere, and far more disciplined.

Frisk hopped off of the bench and crouched under Sans, grasping his arms while looking up at his face. The pupils...the light in his eyes were gone. Beneath them, some sort of liquid was running down, past his mouth and dripping onto his knees. ...Tears?

"Please...don't do that thing with your eyes. It's...scary."

It was so sudden that it managed to shake Sans back to the present. The magic flared behind his eyesockets, focusing back into the tiny beads of light that gave the illusion of having proper eyes. Frisk let go as he grabbed the sides of his hood, using them to wipe his eyes and face before brushing it off his head with one hand.

"...ok."

"That's better."

Frisk gave Sans another smile as they sat back upon the bench, waiting for the next words to break the silence. It was a subject that they'd both never wanted to bring up, especially not to each other. On the next bench over, Papyrus was sitting on the nearby edge, just watching. Studying. Thinking. Hoping.

"s-so..." Sans voice began to shake, "how much...do you remember?"

Frisk took a deep breath. "All of them. Every one."

"makes sense. to you it'd be like one long stretch of time. to us, it was like we were re-writing the same part of the story over and over again."

"I didn't want to reset, you know."

"what?!"

Frisk left the bench again and began to pace back and forth, holding their left arm with their right hand in a state of mild anxiety.

"When I fell, no, when I woke up, there was something following me."

"FOLLOWING YOU? I DON'T REMEMBER SEEING ANYTHING WITH YOU."

"I couldn't see it. It...talked to me. Whispered things in my ear. Told me things about the area, or who I was talking to, stuff that I didn't know, but it somehow did."

"this thing...did it have a name?"

"It didn't give me its name, no, but I also didn't really think to ask."

"so what was it telling you, specifically?"

"It was always a bit vague. Sometimes it would suggest things, other times it would tell me to be careful. It helped me in battles sometimes, telling me how to dodge things or maybe what I should do or say to make it through. It always told me to stay determined. It always wanted me to keep going forward."

"okay...so the first time..."

"The first time I went through I met all of you. You, Sans, didn't trust me all that much, I remember that Papyrus was the one who convinced you to be nicer."

"NYEH HEH HEH! SOUNDS ABOUT RIGHT!"

Frisk and Sans both chuckled a little.

"I...got to the end. I got to Asgore, and I had to fight him. And when I did, that voice went away. Or maybe it just didn't talk, but I could still feel it there. Watching me like a...ghost or something. When Asgore...died..."

"DIED?! HUMAN, ASGORE IS ALIVE!"

"we know that, pap. this is one of those alternate timelines i told you about. one where frisk...well..."

"BUT...HOW COULD YOU JUST..."

"He didn't give me a choice. I wanted to go home, and he blocked the way, because he needed one more soul to break the barrier."

"ONE MORE SOUL...UNDYNE TALKED ABOUT THAT TOO, WHEN SHE...FINALLY TOLD ME WHAT THE ROYAL GUARD WAS FOR."

"...sorry, bro. nobody wanted to crush your dreams like that."

"NOTHING WAS CRUSHED, BROTHER! YOU ALL SIMPLY FORGOT WHAT THE WORDS 'ROYAL GUARD' MEANT! I SIMPLY WANTED TO PROTECT KING ASGORE AND KEEP THE PEACE! HUMAN OR NOT, NOBODY DESERVES TO BE HUNTED DOWN LIKE AN ANIMAL!"

His declaration was like a breath of fresh air. Underneath it all, at the center of his being, Papyrus was still Papyrus, and both Sans and Frisk felt their hearts warm just a bit.

"I THOUGHT THAT MAYBE...IF I JOINED THAT MAYBE...THEY'D LISTEN TO ME, AND STOP THIS, BUT I GUESS IT'S ALL OKAY NOW, RIGHT?"

"right, pap," Sans nodded, turning back to Frisk, "so...after asgore, what happened?"

"It's hard to remember. It's the same as all of them, I just...walk up to the barrier, put my hand on it, and then...it all goes white, and I wake up back in the ruins again."

"...so you were stuck, just like the rest of us?"

"Uh huh. It was really scary. The first few times I did everything exactly the same, thinking that maybe I dreamed all of it. Got to the end, and then everything reset again. I tried asking that entity following me around but it didn't tell me anything."

"that 'entity,' that's a good name for it. let's call it that from now on."

"Sans?"

"it's...something i've been thinkin' about. go on."

"So, after the first few resets, I thought about...trying something different. Making different choices. The only ones I thought would change things the most. I..."

"CHANGE...THE MOST?"

"the kid's talking about changing the...'variables.' except, in this case, those variables were our lives, and-"

"I didn't want to!"

Another echo over the water, another sentence falling into the distant mountain, this time from a mere child, distraught with the guilt of dozens or maybe hundreds or maybe even thousands of bad decisions. Frisk ran immediately toward Papyrus and clung to the skeleton for dear life, with eyes beginning to water once again.

"The first choice I made...changed was...it was..."

"papyrus."

"ME?"

"frisk is saying that they...killed you...in your battle."

"BUT..."

Papyrus' head was still clouded with a million nagging thoughts, and he had to focus in order to get a better sense of the picture. The idea of multiple timelines still felt very strange, and he supposed that was because he didn't remember any of them, like Sans said. Once the puzzle had sorted itself out, Papyrus scooped up the human in his arms and cradled them.

"FRISK. LISTEN, I...DON'T REMEMBER ANY OF THAT, BUT I'M HERE NOW, RIGHT? SO THAT MEANS THAT AT SOME POINT, YOU MADE THE BETTER CHOICE."

"And...and after that I didn't see Sans again, and Undyne hated me s-so much, and then Sans left my phone a message telling me I wasn't welcome and that I was a brother killer and..."

"BUT THAT ISN'T WHERE WE ARE."

"yeah. and for what it's worth, i...i'm sorry, if i did those things."

Papyrus lowered Frisk to the ground as the human wiped their eyes, regaining a sense of composure. "I know, I'm sorry too. For...all of it."

"okay, so let's skip those...details."

"So...I tried really hard to stop resetting. Like, really really hard, but I couldn't do it. One time, I found a way to get the barrier to shatter, and I thought 'this is it. this is what I was supposed to do!'"

"sure, but we were only up here a couple of days, i think."

"Yeah. I didn't want to stay with Mom, I went back 'home,' but everybody was gone. So I stuck around for a little bit, thinking everybody was out. I got hungry, and I got scared. Then the voice whispered to me, and I went back to the mountain. Then I...woke up on the flowers again."

"so you were able to reset, even though the barrier was gone. that entity...what does it want?"

"I don't know. It never told me. It just told me to stay determined."

The moment that both Sans and Frisk were truly afraid of began to stick in the back of both of their minds. The golden sunlight shining through the hall. Birds singing, flowers blooming. Bad times. Sans instinctively closed his jacket up, holding a hand over his chest to conceal a non-existent scar.

"so...i guess we gotta talk about the most 'recent' timeline." Sans didn't even look toward the others.

Frisk didn't either. They just stared at the ground again. "No, we don't."

"THE 'MOST RECENT'? THE LAST ONE?"

"yeah. it was...a doozy. it's the only timeline i can remember besides the one we're riding right now."

"It's okay, Sans, we don't have to talk about it," Frisk quavered.

"that ain't true, frisk. we both have a _lot_ to say, and..."

"I said no!"

For a child, Frisk was remarkably agile. Before the brothers could react, the human had already made it about halfway to the nearby thicket of trees, with no signs of slowing down at all. Desperation and determination made manifest into a single soul. Strangely remarkable.

"FRISK!"

"kid!"

"I'LL GO GET-"

But Sans had already left the bench. "no. i'll get 'em. this is...something i gotta do, okay?"

"OKAY, SO WHAT SHOULD I DO?"

"just...wait here." Sans tugged at a blue cord around his neck, pulling the whistle from beneath his shirt. "if i need you i'll uh... 'tweet' at ya."

"UNDERSTOOD, THEN I SHALL GUARD OUR RESTING AND TALKING PLACE!"

"heh heh, good. keep the bench warm, would ya?"

Sans looked toward Frisk' eventual goalposts with an analytical eye for a moment, calculating, contemplating, hoping. Once the data had accumulated, an optimal path presented itself. Sans gave a half-hearted wave to his brother, and just vanished. No fanfare, no noise, no puff of smoke.

Gone.

Papyrus always hated it. Being alone.

* * *

The only thing slowing Frisk down now was the numerous obstacles that nature had left in front of them. A log here, a few roots there. Stumbling on a pile of dirt that was larger than it looked, then dodging an anthill before catching onto an old tree. Then the exhaustion finally caught up with the child.

"that face."

Frisk gasped and fell backward, clutching their chest to try and catch their breath. Behind the tree, was a familiar blue hooded jacket, attached to some black shorts, some bones and some slippers. Sans. Frisk tried to talk, but found their fatigue to be momentarily debilitating.

"that's the face of somebody who'd rather forget everything than remember anything."

The human stumbled forward to face their pursuer, although that term probably gave him a lot more credit than he'd like. Sans was, of course, _there,_ leaning with his back against the tree, resting his head back on his hands.

Still smiling. Somehow.

"kid, i...look. this isn't easy. it's not, okay? you saw me earlier, i'm just as much of an emotional wreck as you are."

Frisk didn't say anything. Didn't _do_ anything either.

"is this why you haven't been talking? tori even said you're quiet in class, and you don't talk to the other kids, the teachers, nobody."

Still nothing.

"but...you talked today, right? you're better now than you were yesterday. i can feel it."

"I don't..."

"see? there ya go. just take it slow, okay?"

"I don't deserve to be here."

Sans was beginning to get weary of all these emotional gut-punches he was taking lately. Ring the bell. Throw in the towel, the champ has hit the mat and he ain't getting up.

"don't say that. i know you can't possibly believe that. that's my department."

"Sans, I killed everybody. _Everybody!_ Papyrus, Undyne, Mettaton, everybody in Snowdin-"

"they were evacuated. you didn't get everybody."

"You, Sans!"

"and i killed _you._ "

Sans didn't even give the world time for silence to fill the void. He lowered, almost _fell_ onto Frisk, hugging them dearly and expecting the worst. He felt tears begin to soak into his t-shirt, and hugged even tighter.

It smelled like green moss and grave remorse.

"but y'know what I figured?"

Frisk stopped for just a moment.

"i figured that, somewhere under there, my friend was waitin' for me. and that face you showed me, the frustration, the anger, the pure hatred. i figured that...well, that face isn't the same face you're showing me today. the same face you've had ever since we made it up here and started our new lives. that was a different face, and now that you've told me a few things, i'm guessin' it wasn't _your_ face at all, was it?"

Frisk nodded their head.

"nah. maybe it looked like your face, but it wasn't your face. it was a face that thrived on LOVE, and not love, make sense?"

They released each other, Frisk wiping tears off of their face.

"I was scared. I was scared of being stuck there forever. So that...thing...that followed me. I begged for it to help me get out. It told me to just relax, and let it take control."

"heh, called it."

"B-but it was still me, Sans! I could feel when I killed those people. I saw it, I heard it, I got covered in that dusty powder...stuff! And by the time we'd gotten far enough...I wasn't able to stop it anymore."

"and then we met in that hallway. i always did."

"Yeah. You were...really strong. You're kinda awesome, Sans." Frisk cracked a smile.

"nahhh...i just cheated a little, that's all. space-time kinda stuff."

"I just want you to know, before we go on. Every time you 'spared' me? Every time I fell for it? That was me. That was me using everything I had to try to break free or at least hold that 'entity' down for you to...you know."

"kill you." Sans almost choked on the words.

"Yeah."

"i'm sorry. i really am. i...i don't really know what else there is to say."

"Me too. I mean...it's crazy that we're even here. I've been so scared to talk about this, especially with you, since...deep down, I always thought you hated me."

"hated you? me?"

"I killed your brother countless times, then I killed everybody, even you. How could..."

"you shattered the barrier."

"How could anybody be friends with something like me?"

Looks like round two was already over. There were no tears this time, just a small child falling on their hands and their knees, staring at the dirt that they felt they deserved to reside under. Sans knelt down beside them and placed an understanding hand on Frisk's shoulder.

"well, we are monsters, y'know. it's in our nature, i guess. but if you want to know the truth, then let me tell you this: the fact that you're so broken up about it, even though you're just a kid, shows just how much you really care. we love you, because you love us, you see? you don't want to kill anybody now, do you?"

"Nope."

"and that thing...isn't around anymore, right?"

"Nope."

"then i guess that settles that."

"I still feel..."

"bad? sure, that's not going to go away instantly. but hey, with a few friends, and maybe some bad laughs, you'll learn to accept it and move on."

"How do you do it?"

Sans gave a hint of a chuckle. "heh. i didn't. you're lucky. when i went through stuff that was...about this bad, i didn't have anybody around to talk to about it. not even papyrus."

"Why not?"

"he was too young to understand. but...he wants to know now, and i want to tell him. that's why i've been running around doing all this stuff lately, and...well i brought you out here to talk about this...stuff between us, and stuff...man i can't really talk today."

"It's okay. You're still talking more than I am."

"was that...a joke? see, you're already feeling better."

"Yeah, I guess I am, a little." Frisk smiled.

"well, don't get cocky, kid. you and i might've settled things, but you really should tell somebody else about all this stuff. if i had a suggestion, i'd say papyrus."

"Why Papyrus? I...don't think I could bear to tell him."

Sans snickered and reached into his pocket, fishing out his cell phone. He pointed it toward Frisk, and the human could see three words on the front.

PAPYRUS

SPEAKERPHONE: ON

"probably because he's been listening this whole time."

The skeleton's unique voice crackled through the receiver. "HE'S RIGHT, HUMAN! IT IS I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THIS PHONE CALL!"

"You tricked me?!"

"only because you need people to listen to you. you gotta know that of all people, papyrus would probably understand even better than i could."

"I...don't know what to say." Frisk's eyes began to water again.

"FEAR NOT, HUMAN. ALTHOUGH YOU MIGHT HAVE KILLED ME AND SANS IN ANOTHER TIMELINE, KNOW THAT I KNOW THAT WE EXIST HERE, IN THIS ONE. HERE, YOU AND I ARE LOCKED FOREVER WITHIN THE FRIEND-ZONE, A PRISON OF UNDERSTANDING THAT NEITHER OF US WILL EVER ESCAPE!"

Frisk and Sans finally lost all sense of composure then. While Frisk just held their head in their hands laughing, Sans fell even harder, literally rolling on the ground at how hilariously great and wrong his brother was.

"ok, ok, that killed us, pap. i'm hanging up. we'll be back in a sec."

"OKAY, BROTHER. WAIT...'KILLED' YOU? OH MY GOD SANS, WAS THAT ANOTHER OF YOUR BAD J-"

Beep.

The laughter continued for what felt like at least ten minutes or so. It was the kind of laughter that would die out, until one person would look at the other, give a goofy smirk, and give in again. That kind of real laughter that some people can only dream of eliciting from an audience.

When it began to die off, Sans had one last question to ask.

"so, kid, if this entity was controlling you, how'd you reset?"

"Well, when we got...past...Asgore, I was standing in this pure black room. In front of me was a kid that looked kinda like me, but not exactly. It had the same voice, and it told me it wanted to 'destroy the world.'"

"yeah."

"That's why you were stopping us, right?"

"yep. but please don't act like you were together like that, it's creepy, heh."

"Anyway, I tried really hard to reason with them, I begged them to not destroy the world, but it said that if I didn't destroy it, I'd be stuck forever. Then it told me that...how did it put it...by using my determination, it had managed to become more 'real' and not be stuck to me...? Something like that."

"it was 'stuck' to you?"

"I guess. And now that it had the ability to be separate from me, it wanted to destroy everything. Then I heard a voice. It was deeper, sounded like a man's voice. It sounded like it was coming from inside my ears, it was strange."

Sans knew that feeling well. He'd been experiencing it in his dreams for months.

"It told me to...

 **"CONTROL My Power,**

 **ALTER My Perceptions Of The World, And**

 **DELETE The Outcome I Didn't Want."**

Sans gave a knowing smile. "well, well, he's just full of surprises," he muttered under his breath.

"So I kept thinking about those words, and the entity started to scream at me, telling me to stop what I was doing immediately. It said it didn't want to get trapped in the...void? It kept saying that if I did this, they'd be gone forever.

But I didn't care. I kept hoping for a world where this thing didn't exist. I kept hoping and dreaming for a chance to save everything from this...path I went down. Everything, including that child, vanished in a loud crash. Then...I just saw the word. It was just hovering in front of me like...an icon on my phone or something. 'Reset.'"

"it was just...there, huh?"

"Yep. So I touched it, and everything went white. When I woke up, I was on the flowers again, but the voice was gone. And it wasn't just staying quiet, I could feel that it was really gone. I had a chance, and I took it. I really did it, Sans."

"yeah, you did. and that's the timeline we're on now."

"Yeah."

Sans began to laugh again. "gotta hand it to ya, kid. you really pulled through, even if you felt like crap for half a year."

"Yeah, I...did, didn't I?"

"just remember, you're not alone in this. maybe don't tell tori or undyne about this just yet, but you and i? we got each other, and papyrus, and that's way more than i can say for myself in the past."

"You...were sad in the past?"

"yeah. i was sad for a long time, even before this crazy reset business started. it took a long time for me to stop being a crybaby and become the jolly bag of bones you see before you today. i...didn't have anybody to tell this kinda stuff too."

"You can tell me."

"yeah. i might have you come over, too, when i start telling all this stuff to papyrus. it might help."

"Okay."

Sans pulled offered a hand to Frisk. "alright, ready to go? i got a shortcut all picked out."

Frisk reached up for it and hesitated.

"Sans...are we...okay?"

"tell ya what, you take my hand, and see if that says anything."

Frisk grasped Sans' hand tightly and felt something in between. A small bag of air, letting out a loud, flatulent, gassy sound that reminded them of when they first met Sans. The old whoopie-cushion-in-the-hand-trick.

Sans leaned over to whisper into Frisk's ear.

"Get dunked on, fartmaster."

Before Frisk had a chance to giggle, the two had vanished. One step closer to home.

* * *

A longer day had an even longer evening, and even as tired as Sans was, now that he'd gotten some answers and some files, he felt more determined than ever to try putting the pieces together. The sounds of TV shows flicking back and forth became a blur in the back of his mind as he kept himself glued to his computer, scouring that hard drive and frantically typing his thoughts and findings.

"..ANS!"

The skeleton almost fell out of his chair. "huh? wha? ...papyrus?"

"SANS, IT'S ALMOST MIDNIGHT. I'M HEADING TO BED, ALRIGHT?"

Sans looked around, realizing that most of the house lights were off, before glancing at the clock. Had he really been at this for hours? Did he actually tune everything else out somehow? That didn't seem like him.

"oh, s-sure, pap. i'll be up to read in a bit."

"NO, THAT'S OKAY."

"papyrus, c'mon."

"IT'S NOT THAT I DON'T WANT A STORY, IT'S JUST THAT..."

Papyrus motioned to everything scattered on the table. The laptop Sans was typing on, documents in disarray, Sans' journal splayed open, and at the edge, a cold plate of spaghetti. House special.

"YOU'RE WORKING HARDER ON THIS THAN ANYTHING IN YOUR LIFE, SO...I FIGURE THIS IS IMPORTANT TO YOU. I SUPPOSE I'm...PROUD? SO I DON'T WANT TO INTERRUPT, OKAY?"

"c'mon, papyrus that isn't fair."

"OF COURSE IT'S FAIR. YOU NEVER INTERRUPTED MY WORK...MUCH. IT'S TIME I RETURN THE FAVOR. I CAN READ TO MYSELF FOR ONE NIGHT."

For a second, Sans felt hurt, and slightly proud...?

"okay, okay, sounds good. i made you a promise, and i intend to keep it."

"GOOD. BUT DO ME A FAVOR?"

"whats that?"

Papyrus motioned toward the plate. "EAT SOMETHING. YOU HAVEN'T EATEN ANYTHING ALL DAY. I THOUGHT YOU'D EAT ONCE WE GOT HOME, BUT YOU'VE BEEN GLUED TO THAT THING ALL NIGHT."

"aw, c'mon i'm alright, i just got distracted-"

"PLEASE? I'M GOING TO BED. GOODNIGHT, BROTHER."

"'night, pap. sweet dreams, ok?"

"OF COURSE!"

Papyrus walked up the stairs to his room, taking a deep breath as he closed the door. He opened his closet and pulled out his pajamas and prepared to change into them, before his eye caught the whistle around his neck. It was strange, such a tiny thing set his mind almost into overdrive with the experiences he'd had today. Learning about Frisk's less-than-stellar upbringing, their journey into the underground, even through time.

He still had a lot to think about. Frisk was, essentially, a murderer, but only while under the influence of a real murderer. His brother, technically, was a murderer too, but he knew Sans couldn't hurt anybody unless it was truly, truly important. He supposed that saving the world was pretty much up there on the charts.

Sans. In some ways he was still a bigger mystery than even Frisk. Another puzzle, at a time when he was growing little tired of puzzles. A lot of people always told Papyrus that Sans was keeping a lot more inside than he was letting on, and they often asked Papyrus what was going on. It always seemed to bother him that he couldn't give them a straight answer.

Even today, he expected his brother to be lazy, but found himself working so hard he wasn't even eating-

KA-CHUNK.

Papyrus turned toward the door, focusing on the noise downstairs. For a second, he thought that maybe it was the microwave? No...he was hoping...

BEEP-BEEP-BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.

VRROOOOOOONNNNNN..."

It was, and Papyrus sighed.

It smelled like reheated pasta and relief.


	6. Here We Are

_Written down,  
down on the ground,  
ground away again...  
Something wrong,  
wrong now it's gone,  
gone erased again..._  
-Vertical Horizon, "I Free You"

* * *

Nobody ever really remembers the moments they fall asleep, and for Sans, it proved to be true for monsters as well. Hazy recollections of half-cooked pasta, combined with still images of corrupted text documents, static-afflicted camera footage, and handwritten memories into a dreary fog. One that even the most hardworking person would struggle to stay conscious.

A lazy skeleton stood no chance.

Before it even started, Sans was already frustrated with the situation. Not that he'd fallen asleep. No, Sans was upset at the fact that he was about to experience something new. Something that he kept having to remind himself was a memory, even if his memory was becoming more faulty than some of his brother's puzzles. He wanted, more than anything, to be able to write down what he was about to see. To somehow transcribe it in physical form, so that there was something real to take back with him. Something real...he'd often wished he could make so i _many/i_ things real.

He found himself in that void between his dreamscapes again, a familiar place, to be sure. It was the same as the one Papyrus described meeting Gaster in. Grey, empty, endless, and only half-lit. He'd been experiencing this place ever since they came to the surface, and part of him felt awful that its ailments had spread to his brother. There wasn't anything here except his awareness, until everything began to swirl. The smells came first, wafting through the air as the images began to properly develop.

It smelled like sulfur and sterility.

Already, without even looking, Sans knew he was looking at The Core. A laboratory inside The Core, to be specific. His sense of smell managed to remind him of the particular environment he was used to in his early youth, one that his mentor was very, very demanding to have.

Doctor Gaster, he remembered, hated unknown variables. It was something that Sans had noticed within his brother Papyrus, who often remarked that he "loathed puzzles with random solutions." He hadn't really thought about it until now, but Papyrus had a few things in common with the doctor. Papyrus' puzzles, while sometimes outlandish or eccentric, were always fair. They were always crafted with the care that an artisan took when creating their masterpieces. There was always a critical eye for detail, and even the ones he considered failures were solvable, at the very least.

...Wait, who was he thinking about again?

Finally, the scene became clear, his intuition ringing true. The Core, specifically Gaster's private laboratory, and the Doctor was standing over a smaller creature who was working on a computer at a frenetic pace. Himself, presumably.

 _looks like i was what, ten? eleven?_

" **You Really Seem To Enjoy Working On The Database, Sans."**

There wasn't a response. The young skeleton kept typing away, moving through window after window as he went through just about everything he could. Sans remembered very little of that time now, and he couldn't even recall just why he was so determined. What was he looking for?

 **"Have You Found Anything Interesting?"**

"nope. humans don't really know anything about it, except for maybe religious texts. but i mean, they're not exactly reliable information."

 **"My Young Sans, Don't Discredit The Validity Of Stories. They May Have Been Told Throughout The Generations For A Reason. Don't Forget, We Monsters Also Have Our Own Tales From Times Long Ago."**

"yeah, but humans don't have anybody who lived for centuries to back up their stories. y'know, like you!"

 _that's right. gaster remembered the world before the barrier. he was there, he witnessed the war._

Gaster turned away from his pupil and sighed, grasping his tie with a hole-filled hand. The sudden change caused the eager student to stop his work and turn away for the first time in hours.

"...sorry. you said you don't like talkin' about that stuff."

 **"It's Alright, I Am Just...Uncomfortable Talking About...Death."**

His composure was shaken for just a bit, before he adjusted his collar and continued.

 **"You Are Correct, On Both Counts. Humans Were Always Limited By Their Mortality, Unlike Some Monsters. Most Monsters Will Eventually 'Fall Down," But Some, Like Elemenals, And Boss Monsters, Will Live For A Very Long Time."**

"yeah but...there's only two boss monsters, right?"

 **b"It Is Hard To Say. Boss Monsters Are Often Only Born Of Other Boss Monsters, But Where Did Those Boss Monsters Come From? I've Been Theorizing That It May Be A Form Of Evolution, For Monsters. That Perhaps, In The Future, Boss Monsters May Become Common, Or Even The Majority. Sadly, Unless We Escape The Barrier, I Will Be Unable To Truly Test My Hypothesis. Hope Remains Stagnant At Best, So Monster Growth Will Be Stunted As Long As We Are Trapped."/b**

 _but now we're free. hope is on the rise, but...why don't i feel any different? shouldn't i be stronger, happier, more...hopeful? i was used to disappointing papyrus before, but back then it was understandable. now...now i can just feel it, and it hurts. it hurts so much. when he told me he didn't want to disturb me, that he'd never seen me work so hard, it was a bit painful. but he was smiling, in the end. he was always smiling. i..._

"...doctor gaster? are we ever going to go back to our house in snowdin?"

 **"Maybe Around The Holidays, When Everybody Goes On Vacation. But Until Then, My Work Is Too Important. We Can't Stop. We Can't Ever...Stop."**

The young skeleton sighed and went back to his work, once again burying himself in ones and zeroes. The dreamer watched in a strange sense of awe at his former self, somebody who at one point had worked so hard to accomplish...something. What was he looking for? What was he researching so intently? Nothing in a database...unless referred to by stories?

...Wait.

 _why was i even there in the first place? why was i allowed to work with the 'illustrious' doctor gaster at all? i was a kid! this doesn't make sense. no...no i can't be forgetting this too. not this too. i have to remember. think, sans! what is the earliest memory in your life? it was..._

This was it.

Sans clawed at the recesses of his brain, hoping for a synapse or two to get shaken loose, but to no avail. He'd forgotten just how he met Doctor Gaster in the first place. But what Sans _did_ know was where he came from, even if he couldn't remember it. His current research was still active in his brain, and Gaster's logs, while corrupted, were almost crystal clear when it came to Sans.

His only natural recollection was working with him on his work. Or...some other kind of research that was unrelated to his work. Gaster was working on getting rid of the barrier, but everything was a dead-end, except for the use of soul power.

They already had five. Sans remembered Gaster saying that plenty of times. Five, out of seven. Seven magicians that created the barrier, the power of seven human souls. Between this and the moment Sans met Frisk, somehow, a sixth was collected. Sans had never met this human, but he remembered hearing the news about it. The Underground cheered at the notion of being almost free. Nobody ever thought about what that meant, except for Sans.

It meant that everybody was celebrating a murder.

 _so messed up. it's all so messed up. did i help gaster...collect the souls? i don't think i'd forget something as...sickening as that. i still can't forgive myself for killing frisk, and why should i? i'm a murderer. i'm a murderer now and papyrus knows. why did i even let him know? ...will he...hate me?_

He shook his head clear of these thoughts for a moment, noticing that Gaster was walking to the other side of the room, far away from his younger self. Gaster stood in the corner and leaned against the wall, silently watching the child clacking away and scanning text after text. Then, the dreaming Sans noticed the doctor doing something strange.

He turned his head, as if listening to something.

The doctor's eyes widened in shock before narrowing into an angry glare. He began to stare at the child so intently, one would wonder if he could feel Gaster's eyesockets drilling into the back of his skull. He then looked off to the side, at a far door that was labeled "RESIDENTIAL AREA."

 **You Can't. Besides, You're Stuck To** _ **Me.**_ **"**

 _...no way._

The doctor turned to face the wall and rested upon it with an angry skeletal fist. He looked down, and Sans, both the young and the old, noticed that he was talking to himself. Gaster's voice was quiet, but the lab was even moreso.

 **You Leave Him Out Of This. You Leave My...**

BEEP-BEEP.

 **...OUT OF THIS!**

A blaring, high-pitched noise caused the memory to blur out of control. It came again, and again, and again, and with every shrill screech, more details were blotting out.

 _your "what?" what were you going to say?! no no no no no i need to see more! i need to remember!_

But no semblance of the scene remained. The blurs and the static finally evaporated away until all that was left was an empty, lonely place again. Instead of dwelling on dashed hopes, Sans had to focus on the new information he'd acquired. It was a familiar task: take the new data, and apply it to previously known measurements and readings. He remembered always hating how that sounded. So clinical and detached. He was thinking about feelings here. Feelings and memories.

Frisk's memories, now.

 _"it talked to you, whispered things in your ear," right? this entity followed you during your entire journey through the underground. you didn't let on at all, but now i'm starting to think that this...thing knew better than to distract you when people were payin' attention. kid...i'm sorry i didn't catch on sooner._

 _but now i know that you weren't the only one. that thing followed gaster. it obvously tormented him, scared him, maybe even mocked him. he was strong, but how long could anybody resist having an actual voice in their head before going a bit crazy?_

It smelled like a vacuum, and a perverted sentimentality.

* * *

BEEP-BEEP. BEEP-BEEP.

Sans didn't even need to open his eyes to recall the familiar sound of his phone's text notifications. All this modern technology, and yet it inconvenienced him the most at a time of real need. He lifted his head off of the arm of the couch, and...

...Couch? When did he make it to the couch?

He looked down and saw a familiar blanket draped over him. It was the spare blanket from the hall closet, and it was even tucked into the back of the couch for added comfort. On top of the blanket was a series of yellow sticky notes, carefully placed in a proper order for easy reading.

"SANS,

I, YOUR BROTHER PAPYRUS, MOVED YOU TO THE COUCH BECAUSE YOU LOOKED UNCOMFORABLE SLEEPING ON AN EMPTY SPAGHETTI PLATE. I CLEANED YOUR FACE AS BEST I COULD AND TUCKED YOU IN. (WHAT WOULD YOU DO WITHOUT ME?)

I AM VISITING UNDYNE AT THE MOMENT, BUT I WILL RETURN TONIGHT. I'M SO EXCITED FOR YOU TO TELL ME ABOUT GASTER!

YOURS TRULY,

THE GREAT PAPYRUS."

Sans chuckled for a bit, and upon realizing he was alone in the house, he began to erupt into hearty laughter. He was so worried about his relationship with his brother that he forgot who his brother even _was._ There's no way Papyrus would hate him, and this laughter was a symptom of that realization. It was mixed with a deep sense of relief.

He could do this. He could remember these things. He could tell Papyrus everything and he knew that everything could work out. For once, he felt his hope building a bit. It felt like a pulse, like his heart was beating just a little bit stronger in his chest. It was an amazing feeling, considering he was a magical skeleton monster with a non-existent heart.

He reached over and grabbed his phone, realizing he'd gotten several texts from Alphys while he was sleeping.

"-hi sans, we still on for tonight? 9:34 AM

-I really want to know more. I feel like I forgot something important. 10:41 AM

-You there? 12:00 PM

-Oh, and I was wondering if I could bring Undyne along? I...would really like to. 12:02 PM"

He stared at that last message for a bit and began to lose himself in his thoughts. He'd planned to tell Alphys about the resets and about Frisk's experiences with them, but now he wasn't sure just how Undyne would react. It's not that she would hurt Frisk, it's just that she was now an uncontrolled variable. Alphys would undoubtedly find the concept fascinating, but Undyne could...

"wait, you know what? sure. i can wing it."

He texted Alphys. "-sure. papyrus could use another friend. frisk is coming too. 2:46 PM"

The phone beeped immediately. Alphys was predictably glued to hers, as always.

"-What do you mean by that? 2:47 PM"

The skeleton chuckled as he replied. "-don't worry about it. i just think it might help him out, ok? 2:47 PM"

"-Ok. See you tonight. 2:48 PM"

Sans dropped his phone back onto the coffee table and stared at the ceiling for a bit. He was used to Papyrus being gone, usually on "patrol" around the neighborhood. He started to wonder what Papyrus did when he was alone in the house, when Sans would go off to Grillby's new place or maybe work out in his "workshop," which was a rather silly name for a shed in the yard.

Deep down, Sans knew that Papyrus was lonely. He wasn't stupid or anything, he knew that sometimes one would have to be alone, but Sans always felt like Papyrus wasn't the type of person who enjoyed being alone with their thoughts. He remembered a couple of important things that Papyrus hated even more than bad puzzles.

Silence and boredom.

Now that they were on the surface, there was very short supply of both. Papyrus was happier than he'd ever been, but Sans suspected that it wasn't because they made it to the surface. He figured that Papyrus was happy...just to have a few more friends.

He sighed and rested his head back onto the arm of the couch. Tonight was the big night. No sense in losing sleep now. Besides, that blanket was the perfect level of comfort, the kind that nobody could ever escape from.

It smelled like bones and an afternoon nap.

* * *

Time crawled on.

It reminded Sans of the fear someone would get right before giving a speech in front of dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of peers. He'd never even done such a thing before, but his ability to read the faces of those who'd had told him everything there was to know. It was a deep twinge in the heart, combined with a sickening churning in the stomach, with just a hint of shivering. His plate, while empty, was somehow also untouched, and he couldn't even remember eating his dinner. It surely happened, and supper was surely winding down, as the clattering of plates landed in the nearby kitchen sink.

Everybody was finished with their meals now. Alphys, Undyne, Papyrus, and Frisk were busy bustling around the table, clearing it off. Sans was the only one not moving; he just sat there, staring forward at the empty space in front of him where his plate once sat. He wondered if anybody could see how he was acting, with his slouched shoulders and slightly wringing hands. He wondered if he could really do this. Face his past, tell everybody about the skeletons in his closet.

A hand came to rest on his shoulder and gave a gentle squeeze. He glanced toward its source.

Papyrus.

Of course it was Papyrus.

It was _always_ Papyrus.

"YOU CAN DO THIS."

At any other time, Sans would crack a joke, or shift away from the hand in a brotherly, playful way, but this time was so different to him. He didn't know why he did what he did, but he found himself placing his hand atop his brother's, forcing it to remain on his shoulder like it was a part of him. In a way, it really was.

"i dunno."

"I DO."

It was Papyrus' trademark optimism showing itself again. The taller skeleton could tell that Sans wasn't himself, or perhaps, he was more of himself than he'd ever shown before. There were always hints at his unease, but Papyrus didn't know how to be anybody but himself. The emotions he always gave off were the ones he knew the best, and they were the ones he'd always hoped to instill in others.

"thanks. i mean it."

"OF COURSE."

Undyne, Alphys, and Frisk turned away from the scene they were gawking at, feinting at doing the dishes or cleaning up. Papyrus massaged Sans' shoulder once more before releasing his brother, in order to return to helping in the kitchen. Sans slowly pushed the chair out and dropped down on his feet, grabbing his nearby laptop and moving toward the television in the living room. He flipped it open and reached behind, plugging it into the back before grabbing the remote and flipping through the channels to find the signal. A replica of his laptop's screen flickered onto the television as everybody finally made their way to the couch.

"Alright, nerd, what're you gonna tell us?" Of course Undyne was the first to speak. It felt...strangely comfortable.

Sans sat down crosslegged next to the television, resting the computer on his lap and facing his friends and brother. He opened an image viewer showing a poorly mouse-drawn picture of a mountain, with a big red circle surrounding it.

"so, i promised papyrus i'd tell him what was bothering me, and to be honest, it's a long story. a really long story. think you can handle it, fish-lips?"

"Hell yeah!" Undine gave a big grin.

Sans matched with his own smile, the first one he'd given since dinner started. On the screen, arrows pointing into the circle appeared, being drawn on the screen in real time as Sans' bony fingers made their journey across the touchpad.

"so, the underground. we were trapped behind a barrier, and we all know how it worked. anything could enter the barrier, but nothing could leave, except for somebody with a powerful soul. our measurements deduced that a 'powerful soul' was one that was slightly stronger than a human soul. so basically, a human soul boosted with the power of a monster's soul would be enough to cross through."

"That's right," Alphys chimed in, "and there was a theory that, since the barrier was created by seven human magicians way back then, that the power of seven human souls could break the barrier once and for all."

"yeah. but you see, there's a problem with a barrier that doesn't let anything leave. it changes things drastically. you see, according to the notes by doctor gaster..."

Undyne and Frisk both tilted their heads, the same word escaping their lips. "Who?"

"we'll get to that, trust me. he's important, both to the story, and to me and papyrus."

He sighed and cleared his throat, or whatever the equivalent was for a skeleton.

"according to his notes, this barrier was a perfect seal. if nothing is able to leave, that means that matter itself couldn't leave. that also means that energy couldn't leave. in fact, it's unknown if even light was able to make it outside the barrier from the inside. gaster theorized that even the very laws of physics were isolated to us inside the barrier, that they were changed, and since it was a much smaller space, it's not unlikely to think that these laws were...weaker."

"You're saying we were like...a pocket universe?" Alphys asked, leaning in.

"it's probable. like a bubble within the bubble that is our planet. the underground was only about...800 square miles of space? could you imagine if the same laws out here existed in that tiny fraction? at the very least, i'd imagine the forces would rip us apart."

"SO SOMETHING KEPT US FROM...RIPPING APART, RIGHT?"

"maybe. you see, there's also the problem of 'pressure.' if this barrier let everything in, then it was letting air in. it was letting other gases in, and if that were happening, then pressure would begin to build. think about it, we had an area with blazing magma, and a cool, refreshing river that flowed into it. that would create steam, and that would cause the air to expand. that expansion would build and build and build, until something gave. if the barrier didn't give, then something else would. us. we'd be crushed into dust."

"That...that's right! I don't know why I never thought of this before!" Alphys pounded a fist into her palm, "There was a river flowing all through the Underground, but if that water couldn't leave, why didn't we get completely flooded with water? In the end, if that river kept flowing, the barrier would just get filled up like an unpoppable water balloon!"

"now we come to doctor gaster. he was one of those monsters who managed to be around before the barrier was created, but he was a boy then. witnessing the barrier's creation led him on a serious hunger for knowledge, and he really, truly wanted to help monsters break free. he, like papyrus and myself, was a skeleton, and he was truly, truly different."

An image of The Core appeared on the screen.

"gaster, as i said, worried about the concept of the barrier and the buildup of pressure, and so he built the core. the core utilized geothermal energy from the magma, sure, but more than that, it was designed to absorb latent energies and change them into something useful, and something _safe._ electricity was the major output, although it had a variety of uses, such as being an important research facility."

"WOWIE! THAT SOUNDS LIKE THAT BATTERY YOU MADE, ALPHYS!"

"Y-yeah...it does. Maybe I...didn't have that idea in the first place, maybe I just...forgot," her eyes sank to the floor.

"nah. i think you made that thing all on your own, because the core's blueprints...don't exist."

"Really?"

"yeah. the only person who knew how it all worked..."

An image blinked onto the screen.

"was doctor gaster."

The picture was of a skeleton, standing tall with one hand on his hip, and the other one adjusting the bone-white tie resting over the black turtleneck sweater. A white lab coat, buttoned at the waist, finished the ensemble, with a pair of spectacles hovering over his eyes, held in place by...something. He had a much more slender frame than Papyrus did, but that face begged to differ.

It looked just like him.

"No way! There's no friggin way that's that...'Gaster' guy Alphys has been bugging out over. That's just...Papyrus in costume, right? Like some kinda getup for a party!"

"IT'S NOT ME, UNDYNE, I PROMISE!"

Undyne looked at Papyrus' face for a moment, then back to the picture, then back to Papyrus again. She gave her friend another big and goofy smile.

"Yeah, you're right. You're a way bigger nerd!"

"NOT TRUE! IT IS YOU WHO IS THE BIGGEST OF NERDS!"

Sans chuckled. "man...and just when i was starting to feel just a bit...nerd-vous."

"SANS!"

Here it comes.

"I'M SO HAPPY YOU MADE A JOKE!"

"...come again?"

"YOU HAVEN'T TOLD ANY JOKES LIKE THAT IN DAYS! I WAS STARTING TO WORRY ABOUT YOU!"

"oh. well, in that case, sorry for making you worry. guess the old funny-bone was getting a bit out of practice."

"SANS."

"tibia honest, it was really hard for awhile there."

"SANS."

"c'mon...i'm just ribbing ya."

"SANS!"

"alright, alright."

Frisk's giggling was infectious, spreading outward across the couch like a wave washing over the shores that were their friends. Even the ever-nervous Alphys couldn't help but laugh, and while Papyrus was beginning to regret encouraging his brother, his smile kept on shining through. The laughter died down, and while Papyrus didn't say anything out loud, his eyes told Sans that he was truly happy about something. He knew that face well, Papyrus was relieved about something, then he felt it himself.

Sans' perpetual smile finally returned.

"so, doctor gaster was an incredibly powerful monster. you know how i can teleport, and control gravity? and how papyrus can control gravity somewhat? sounds pretty strong. nope."

An image came up of a camera feed, showing Gaster reaching out an arm. His hand had vanished from the end, but, as Sans pointed on the screen, it appeared as if his hand were grabbing a coffee cup from the desk at the back of the room, at least fifteen feet away.

"gaster could control space itself. gravity manipulation, teleportation that wasn't just limited to things he was touching, clairvoyance because he could detect everything within a space, all of it. he was perhaps the strongest monster in the underground, with toriel and asgore coming in a close second. although, i'm sure they could stop him by combining their strengths, but that's not important now.

"S-so...if he was so strong, why couldn't he break the barrier?" Alphys asked.

"because a lot of people, including himself, were afraid of his powers if they went out of control. he could even fold space or collapse it! it was apparently an unbelievable sight to behold. according to his notes, he tried to fold space from one point to another beyond the barrier, but it didn't work. he just hit the barrier. that's what led him to believe that physical laws were separated by the barrier."

"NOT EVEN WITH ALL OF THAT POWER?!"

"nope, not even with all of that power. he still merely had a monster soul, and it paled in comparison to human souls. he researched a method of capturing them upon a subject's...expiration, and was successful, creating capsules that could house a soul instead of letting it move on to...wherever they go. he also continued his work into finding out how so much energy wasn't leaving our underground as a barren wasteland. his hypothesis was never exactly proven, but there were many readings that suggested that there was something out there that was...devouring this latent energy."

Alphys looked toward the floor again, with a furled brow. She knew what Sans was about to say.

"the void."

Undyne rolled her eyes at Sans' attempt at being dramatic, but Papyrus' jaw had nearly dropped on the floor. The Void. Two words he'd certainly heard before, but he never expected to hear them now.

"the void is another theory. you see, in our universe, if things continue in this manner, we will eventually get to what is called 'heat death.' basically it means that everything will...disappear. gaster wondered just where this 'everything' would be going, and he gave that 'place' a name. the void, according to his notes, is a place where existence...stops existing. and while he could never prove that it was out there, that it was real, he could tell that inside the barrier, it was somehow balancing everything out. the pieces fit, mathematically, but he just couldn't prove it."

"There were a lot of notes in The Core's files about The Void," Alphys stood up, beginning to pace. "We had many instruments for measuring energies throughout the Underground, but there was one place where they always went haywire. It's that place below the garbage dump, 'The Abyss.' Nobody had ever gone down there, but there wasn't any source of light, so it was always a bit too scary to traverse. We tried many times to measure that place, but our equipment would either get destroyed, lost, or the measurements would be completely random, or corrupted. If this 'void' is anywhere, it has to be down there, which makes sense since that's where the river flows down into."

"yeah, and any monsters who fell into the abyss were never seen again."

Alphys felt a painful knot form in her chest as she sat down. Her own memories were starting to catch up to her now and Undyne could see it. She wrapped her arm around the doctor.

"Alright, Sans, you told us about Gaster and The Core and The Void and all that, yadda yadda. How does this match up with Papyrus? Or you?"

Sans gave a heavy sigh.

"like i said. to get to that, we had to start with gaster, and talk about his powers. well, one day, gaster decided to try something he'd never done before. something he'd been too afraid to try, but he was getting desperate. and because of that...because of that..."

The light in Sans' eyes died for just a moment.

"...he 'fell down.'"

It smelled like dirty dishes and despair.


	7. Falling Down

_"And sometimes I  
get lost in time…  
Sometimes I fear  
I'm lost in here…_

 _All these little strings,  
holding us together…  
All these precious things,  
can't make them last…"_  
–How To Destroy Angels, "Strings And Attractors"

* * *

The stillness in the air fell upon everybody like a terrible burden.

He'd said the words, that magical incantation that causes just about any monster to go quiet. When humans died, the sadness could still be offset by the determination to persevere and continue. But when a monster died, other monsters could feel their soul get heavy, their hearts skipping a beat, all as one.

And Frisk, while human, attuned more closely to monsters than any other human ever had.

Maybe it was because they had done terrible things in their desperate attempts to escape the resets. Maybe it was because they really cared about monsters, who loved them in return. They'd never even met this Gaster, and it was all but assured that he was gone, but that didn't take the sting away. For some reason, Frisk could feel like something was truly gone. Something lost that was truly special.

It smelled like a terrible, terrible lack, that somehow managed to linger on.

Alphys spoke up first. "I-I guess it's natural to assume he...fell. I mean, if he were still around, we'd certainly remember him, that's for sure."

Sans gave a slight chuckle. "so about that...he uh...got back up."

"What?!"

Everybody else was certainly surprised, but Alphys, who'd spent years trying to prevent monster deaths, took it the hardest. What Sans was suggesting was not just impossible, it was almost _blasphemy._

"here. this is a video that one of his colleagues captured. it...says a whole lot," Sans said, spreading the video to full-screen.

* * *

==PLAY==

* * *

The static flickered a bit before coming into focus. The camera wobbled a bit as its operator struggled to fit it onto the tripod, a thumbs up appearing from the side when all was ready.

"Good to go, Doctor," came a voice that nobody recognized.

In the frame, Doctor Gaster turned toward the camera, with a strangely somber look on his face. He nodded, but didn't say anything as he turned back toward the strangely illuminated wall behind him.

The barrier.

"Something wrong?"

" **I...Shouldn't Do This, Right?"**

"I've been saying that for about a week now, yeah. We don't know what could happen. But this is your call, Doctor, you're in charge for a reason. If you want to do this, I want to help."

Gaster looked at whoever was behind the camera. **"Thank You. I...Am The Only One With These Kinds Of Powers. If I Can't Fold Space Between Here And The Barrier, Then Perhaps A Collapse Could...Do Something. Perhaps The Force Could Cause Damage. If There's Even A Crack..."**

"And what happens...when you collapse space, Doctor?"

Gaster looked down at his hands, at this time they were complete and missing the holes that Sans and Papyrus remembered.

" **The Only Other Time I Tried, The Object Just...Disappeared. Then Everything Was Back To Normal."**

"Well...if you're sure. We're both ready when you are."

Another voice spoke up, softer than the previous, but just as unknown. "Yeah. We're ready to record the data, if nothing else."

Gaster sighed and turned toward the barrier again. He took a deep breath and shook his hands, wiggling his fingers in preparation.

He held up his left hand. **"Control The Power..."**

He held up his right hand. **"Alter The Perception Of Space..."**

The power began to surge around his hands. Turbulent winds began to swirl, blasting dust all around the area, and near Gaster himself, it looked as if light were bending around him, through him, in all manner of impossible ways. It looked like space itself was twisting around the skeleton. His lab coat flared out behind him like a battle flag against a volley of infinity.

Gaster's arms began to strain. **"And...Delete The Undesired...Outcome!"**

With one final ounce of strength, Gaster brought his two hands together. The powers smashed together like two massive tidal waves, sending a shockwave throughout the area. The camera was knocked on its side, as the two researchers could be heard falling to the ground behind it. Gaster himself stood firm as he watched this collapse hit the barrier in full force. The barrier almost looked like it was groaning as its normally pulsing light looked like it was sinking into a strange blackness.

The camera's image flickered into static for a second, then came back to show Gaster standing there, staring at his hands. None of the observers knew if it was a problem with the camera, but Gaster's reaction seemed to indicate it wasn't just the feed.

Gaster stood there, amongst _several_ ghostly images of himself, each one taking a different action. One of them ran toward the collapse, one of them ran toward one of his colleagues. One of them went to the camera, another went to the _other_ colleague, but the real Gaster just stood there. Staring at...

Staring at possibility. Possible actions he could take. Multiple, possible futures.

Choices.

"Doc...tor...!" One of the colleagues shouted, sounding physically weakened by the event.

He found the possibility he wanted to follow. Gaster ran over toward his friend step for step with the ghostly image of himself, stepping behind the camera so that only his voice could be heard.

" **No! Hang In There! I Can...I Can Stop It!"**

"It...was a...good hypothesis...doc...tor..."

Even against the riotous sounds of the collapse fighting the barrier, the telltale sound of a monster's soul finally giving out got picked up by the audio recording. A sharp, and solemn whooshing sound that often followed a monster's dust hitting the ground.

"Doctor! It's unstable, and whatever it's doing to the barrier...!" shouted his other colleague.

" **I Know! It's...Causing Some Kind Of Reaction To Time As Well As Space! I Have To Get That Collapse Away From The Barrier! It Could Tear Reality Apart!"**

"Doctor Gaster! Your soul can't handle that kind of strain!"

" **I Have To Try! Maybe If I Fold The Space...I Can Fold The Collapse Away From The Barrier!"**

"Doctor!"

More ghostly images ran over the camera, Gaster's real presence following one right down to the pose. He held his arms out again, one outstretched to the collapse, the other behind him toward something off camera. Deep within the spherical spatial anomaly, a hole appeared that looked as if it were being sucked up from the inside, until it had disappeared. The barrier's strange, pulsing light returned as the sounds of the collapsed space began to come from somewhere far behind the camera. It roared, then it shouted, then it cried out, then it whispered, then it stopped. It was done.

Gaster stood there, looking at something floating above his hand. It was a small, white, glowing shard of light, that began to fall away from him and land on the ground. Frisk and Alphys knew that sight well. It was a soul. It was a _fragment_ of a monster's soul. Above his right eye, and below his left, were two incredibly deep fractures, and the light in his eyes had dimmed significantly.

The gleaming shard fell to the ground, discarded.

"Doctor!"

" **How...Curious. I...Suppose My...Hypothesis Was..."**

The doctor began to fall backwards, holding an outstretched hand toward the barrier. His unseen cohort made a partial screen-debut, catching the doctor just off of the frame so that only Gaster could be seen, staring up at something. presumably his friend's face.

"I...I have to get you...out of here!" His friend shouted, straining to pick up the doctor's skeletal body.

" **You...Are Injured...Your Soul...Is...If You Try To...Carry Me...You Could Fall...Too..."**

"I don't...care...I have to...try!"

The doctor's body was lifted and carried off frame. The sounds of his co-worker struggling to carry him got more and more strained, but it got quieter as it got more distant. The sounds of feet dragging across the dusty rock floor finally faded into the distance, and the camera just sat there, watching as that glowing shard rest upon the ground, giving off its light, but not quite fading.

* * *

 **==PAUSE==**

* * *

Another death, heard but not seen. Perhaps two more, as Sans gave a heavy sigh and stood, leaving his laptop on the ground.

"sorry, bro, i...told you this wasn't going to be...easy."

"I...I'M ALRIGHT."

"you sure? we can take a break..."

"NO!"

The outburst caused the nearby Undyne to jump a bit, giving Papyrus an angry glare before seeing the mournful sadness in his eyesockets. "Hey, Papyrus, we should give it a rest."

"NO. I...ASKED FOR THIS. I'M DOING THIS FOR SANS, JUST LIKE HE'S DOING IT FOR ME."

"pap, i don't really want to review all of this stuff."

"I THINK YOU DO. I KNOW THAT IF YOU DIDN'T WANT TO, YOU WOULDN'T DO IT. THAT'S NOT BECAUSE YOU'RE LAZY. I MEAN, YOU ARE, BUT I KNOW YOU WON'T DO SOMETHING THAT YOU WERE ADVERSE TO."

"i..."

"YOU STAYED UP ALL NIGHT. YOU DIDN'T EVEN EAT UNTIL I BEGGED YOU TO. YOU WORKED SO HARD YOU FELL ASLEEP AT THE TABLE. YOU...WANT TO FIGURE THIS OUT. BUT...ALL THIS TIME YOU'VE KNOWN ALL THIS STUFF, KEPT IT TO YOURSELF. I...MAY NOT UNDERSTAND ALL OF THIS...SCIENCY STUFF, BUT I DO KNOW..."

"papyrus, it's alright, i..."

"I KNOW THAT HOLDING EVERYTHING IN LIKE THAT...IT CAN HURT. AND I WANT YOU TO STOP HURTING, OKAY? WHEN YOU HURT, I..."

Undyne draped her arm around Papyrus' shoulders and gave them a squeeze before giving Sans one of her trademark smiles. "He's right, nerd. You and I might not have gotten along too well in the past, but that doesn't mean you gotta be a big shot all alone, got it?!"

Sans chuckled and shrugged. "alright, alright. guess i'm just not used to showing off all the skeletons in my closet."

Perhaps the joke was poorly timed. Not a single chuckle, groan, or vocal complaint from Papyrus. The moment was just too dour at the moment, as everybody was still coming to terms with the video's contents. Frisk, however, was distracted by something else. They were just repeating the words that stuck in their mind.

"Control...Alter...Delete..."

Sans walked over to the human and leaned on the back of the couch above them.

"sounds familiar, huh?"

Frisk gazed up and nodded.

"yeah. when you said it back at the park, i knew it was gaster. i think maybe he used what power he had to pull you out of the fryer, so to speak. i still dunno how or why, but...he's linked to it. somehow we're all kinda linked to gaster."

"W-wait...'pulled you out of the fryer'?" Alphys asked.

Sans rolled his eyes and looked at Frisk, who nodded again. "...maybe you, me, and the kid can go over that later. if they're...up to it."

"I can. I'm feeling a lot better about it now," Frisk affirmed.

"heh. you're growin' up real fast, kid. nice."

Papyrus nodded in agreement, his smile lasting just long enough for Frisk to see, and to feel at ease. "SO...WE STILL HAVEN'T GOTTEN TO...Y'KNOW, US," he mentioned, gesturing toward himself.

"yeah, well, i guess i'd better skip the video ahead, then. it'll...show something pretty spectacular."

* * *

==PLAY==

* * *

The video remained the same for most of its remainder. The barrier's light pulsed in and out, the cave floor was still just as...dusty. The sounds of wind gently blustering about and crashing against the magical wall, which gave off its own kind of low hum.

Finally, Sans had gotten to the point he wanted to show, and let the video play on from there.

The small shard of light that fell from Gaster, the fragment of what was assumed to be his soul, began to pulse in rhythm with the barrier. Like a heartbeat, its luster seemed to throb to the beat, growing larger and larger as time went on. It grew, and grew, and grew, and...

"you get the point," Sans said, skipping ahead a few minutes further, about five hours after the video had started.

The light had grown to the size of a basketball, still pulsing. Still...breathing. Its light began to wave faster and faster, before the sphere stretched and contorted into several different shapes, almost like it was trying to remember something. Alphys knew this sight well, it was the sign of a monster's birth. This light was usually a cocoon, created by the parents' combined magical essences to create new life. But this was...this came from just one person. It couldn't be...it took _months_ for a magical essence to form into this shape.

"-tor Gaster!" came a deep voice from behind the camera. "Doctor! Where are you?!"

The light finally settled on a form, almost like it was called by the name. The light finally exploded in a brilliant show, before showing a tiny, helpless skeleton lying on the floor, illuminated by the barrier.

The source of the voice came into frame as well. His back was turned, but that familiar purple cloak didn't conceal his identity at all.

Asgore.

"Doctor Gaster!" Asgore shouted, looking around desperately. "They just told me what happened! Doctor! Are you here!"

The cries of the child on camera pulled him out of his fervor as Asgore turned toward its source. "A child? A child, here? What...what happened?!"

He slowly removed his cloak and picked up the skeleton, wrapping it up for warmth. "A skeleton. It's a baby skeleton. Hey, little guy, are you alright?"

The crying slowed to a stop as Asgore began to wiggle a meaty finger in the child's face, prompting an adorable giggle. "Hey...hey there," he kept saying. "Hey there. Hey there little guy, that's right. It's okay. It's..."

Asgore turned toward the camera, and to the viewers it became clear that he saw the dust of Gaster's colleague. To him, it might as well have been Gaster himself.

"Oh my..." he turned back and gave a comforting smile to the baby. "I have to find my friend now, wanna tag along?"

The baby tilted its head.

"Yeah, let's go for a trip, okay little guy? Let's go see if we can find my friend Gaster, okay? Maybe we can get you some grub, while we're at it."

The baby gave a happy little noise.

"You know Gaster? Gas-ter? I think you might be related. C'mon."

* * *

 **==PAUSE==**

* * *

"I can't believe it," Undyne said, leaning in close.

"yeah."

"I-is that...that's..." Alphys stuttered, adjusting her glasses to get a better look.

"yep."

"No way," Frisk held their hands over their mouth.

"uh-huh. that's...me."

"OH MY GOD!"

The taller skeleton leapt to his feet and walked up to the television, turning and tilting his head almost like a confused puppy. His jaw hung open, as he looked towards Sans, then back to the television, then back to Sans again.

"SANS! YOU...YOU..."

Sans hid his face in his hands, groaning and expecting the worst.

"YOU WERE SO...CUTE! OH MY GOD!"

"huh?"

"LOOK! YOU HAVE SUCH TINY HANDS, AND THAT SMILE! I'D RECOGNIZE THAT SMILE ANYWHERE! AND YOUR TEENY LITTLE EYES WITH THOSE BEADS OF LIGHT SPARKLING AND OH MY GOD SANS..."

"Yeah!" Undyne cheered. "Look at that little dorky face, it's so friggin' adorable!"

"alright, alright, sheesh," Sans said, shaking his head as he closed the video.

"AWW."

"sorry, pap. if you want you can watch it later, okay?"

"OKAY," Papyrus nodded, sitting back down on the couch.

Alphys stood up up with an inquisitive look on her face. "So...that was a monster's birth, that's what it always looks like. But...a monster's 'gestation' period, the time it takes for the magic to give them their form, it usually takes months. Yours only took hours...is that because you came directly from a piece of Gaster's...soul?"

"probably. the magical essences that combine to create a monster child...it's magic. magic comes from our souls, and it's attuned to it, but it's a very small amount of power compared to the actual power of a soul. i...look, we can ask all these questions all we want, but about this? my answer really is 'i have no idea,' and i might not ever get the answers, either."

"Fair enough," Alphys sat back down. "So...you said Gaster...got back up, right? How?"

"hard to say. his next batch of notes start after he already woke up, but the story he got was this."

Sans sat back down on the floor and rested his laptop on his legs, opening a series of files. An image of Gaster's shoulders and head appeared on the screen, appearing to be some kind of medical record taken by either himself or somebody he worked with. The deep fractures above and below his eyes hadn't changed, and looked incredibly painful. His eyes themselves were now completely black, with his right eye being slightly malformed in shape.

"his friend managed to drag him back to the core, but because of the strain, he also...fell. this was taken when he was first admitted to the infirmary. he was unconscious, but his soul, even without my...piece, held together somehow and kept him alive. maybe he had enough determination to keep going."

Something looked like it was itching the back of Alphys' brain. "So...who took care of him while he was bedridden? Did...anybody know about this at all?"

"well, asgore visited him plenty of times. but if you want to really know something strange? let's take a look at who took this photo. it was an intern, at the behest of the physician, and according to the notes, that intern helped with his intensive care."

The bottom right corner zoomed in to enlarge the text on the bottom.

PRIMARY PHYSICIAN: DR #$%%#&

ASSISTANT: ALPHYS - 2ND YEAR INTERN

"No. No way. Th-th-that's wrong! I don't remember anything about this!"

"well that's kinda the point of all this. nobody remembers. i've already talked to asgore, he doesn't remember gaster either, and they were _friends._ the files don't lie, alphys, and i didn't alter them, either. wouldn't make for a very funny joke, would it?"

"N-no, but I...Did I really help with any of this? What happened to our memories?! I can't...I'm sorry Sans, but I can't..."

Alphys left the couch again and made for the door.

"Hold it!" Undyne shouted. The scientist froze.

"Undyne, look...I..."

Undyne jumped off of the couch, landing right behind Alphys and clasping a firm hand on the doctor's shoulder.

"I dunno what happened to your memories, but it's the same thing that happened to Sans, right? That's what he's trying to figure out, what he's trying to fix, right? Well to do that, you gotta stay _here_ and help. And I know you, you like being helpful!"

"I-I...I don't know what I sh-should...do..."

"Stay. Help. You. Me. C'mon."

Alphys looked into Undyne's uncovered eye for a moment and thought about shying away, as usual. Something about this time though, something was different, and she only nodded, saying nothing.

"Good. Let's get back into it."

The two returned to the living room and sat back down, Alphys beginning to fidget with her hands.

"you two gonna be alright?" Sans asked.

Alphys nodded, and Undyne gave another goofy smile. "Hell yeah."

"S-so...the 'primary physician'...who was that? I m-mean, I kinda know who is, since they were my mentor before they retired, but.."

"well, that's the problem. a lot of these files are also corrupted. the name's been scrambled out, but if you know who it is, then that's another memory you didn't lose, right?"

"Y-yeah...besides, he's...gone anyway."

"oh. sorry."

"It's alright, he was really old. It was...it was his time. He was happy," Alphys gave a gentle smile.

Papyrus leaned forward, resting his elbows on his bony knees, and his chin on his hands. Sans was surprised at just how interested his brother was in all of this, because he knew Papyrus wasn't a fan of the more...morbid facets of life.

"GO ON, SANS."

"alright. so...gaster was pretty much in the monster equivalent of a coma. he showed all the signs of falling down, and all of his primary care was really just to make sure he was comfortable in his final days. during that time, asgore was pretty much taking care of me and, well, i guess he would've kept doing it if he really had to. about a month passed before gaster started showing signs of physical activity. his soul's readings had stabilized, and before anybody knew it...he was seen walking around the infirmary."

"INCREDIBLE."

"yeah. before long, asgore introduced me to him, and explained where he found me. gaster's first response was to immediately take measurements and readings. sure enough, our magical signatures were a perfect match. what's more, gaster experimented with his powers, finding that he was significantly weaker after the accident. he could no longer fold or collapse space, he could barely teleport, and when he did, he wasn't able to get very far. it seemed as if he lost at least half of his power, and when he took more readings, i guess i stole those from him. he used the nicer term of 'inherited' but...y'know, if something like that happened to me, i probably wouldn't be so optimistic about it."

"SANS..."

"heh, my name. the notes said that i was the 'culmination of everything' that gaster lacked. he gave me my name. sans."

Another window opened up. It was a map of the entire Underground, with several bright red spots dotting the landscape. They counted about thirty or so in all, and stretched all the way from Asgore's Castle to the other end of the mountain, deep in the ruins of Home.

"that collapse hitting the barrier, had a very...unique effect on our fragile little ecosystem, too. remember how I said that physical forces might be weaker underneath the barrier? well, whatever keeps us from being able to move freely through time...it was weakened too. in that video, we could see gaster and a bunch of little ghosts of him, all taking different actions, right? well, at each of these points on this map, he experienced the same phenomenon. tiny little cracks in space-time, that, when he focused, he could go back and make a different decision. he could only go back about a minute or so. he figured that 'determination' was the key to using these points. gaster had a higher amount of determination than most monsters, but i'd bet that somebody with much higher concentration of that? i'd bet they could do everything over and over again."

Sans looked at Frisk as they hid their face behind their knees.

It smelled like secret laboratories and dire mistakes.

"oh...sorry kid. look, i didn't mean to..."

"It's okay."

"so time went on. gaster studied this anomalies, and called them 'save points,' because it was the closest analogy to what these really were. they were like save points in a video game. nobody else was really able to interact with these things, or even see them. gaster speculated that the reason these cracks were all over the underground was because the barrier itself spread out the 'damage' it was doing, and because of that, these tiny cracks appeared instead of a much larger one that would've threatened the barrier's integrity itself."

"SANS, THAT'S GREAT, AND WEIRD, BUT...WHAT ABOUT YOU? YOU AND...GASTER? HE'S YOUR DAD, RIGHT?"

"i...yeah. yeah he was. i mean...i don't have any of those memories up in my head anymore. i had one that i dreamed about earlier today where i was working in a lab with him, and his notes tell me about all the training and schooling he gave me while we were at the core. interestingly enough...gaster seemed as though he was talking to somebody that wasn't there. somebody that i'd bet frisk knows a lot about."

"What? That thing...?"

Undyne shot the human a glance. "What's he talkin' about?"

Frisk stood up and met Undyne's gaze with a new-found sense of courage.

"There was something following me. It talked to me. Sometimes it helped me, sometimes it made fun of me. I finally...got rid of it, but...Sans you're saying this thing was around before I fell into the Underground?"

"i guess. even his notes became more and more incoherent as time went on. i'd guess this thing was disturbing him quite a bit, since he got this weird, new-found fear of dying. he was terrified of it, and a lot of his entries make reference to the fact that not only was he afraid of falling down, but something was mocking him for it. there were even specific entries that he wrote in his weird code-language, one that he must've taught to me at some point, since i can translate it."

Another window popped up on the screen. It was some sort of text document, but it was black, and instead of letters, strange-yet-familiar symbols appeared instead.

"he made a number of entries like this for his research. this one was him studying the abyss below the garbage dump. he used photon-measuring equipment to try to determine why light never seemed to shine down below. it says..."

"SANS. I...THINK I CAN READ IT. CAN I...TRY?"

"...really? pap, when did you..."

"I DON'T REMEMBER. BUT..."

Sans expanded the window so it was easier for Papyrus to read from his position. "okay, go ahead."

Papyrus stood and cleared his throat in a very...showy fashion. Everybody already started to chuckle a bit as it seemed like was preparing for a stage performance.

"ENTRY SEVENTEEN," he began, even rolling his R's when appropriate. "DARK, DARKER, YET DARKER. THE DARKNESS KEEPS...GROWING? THE SHADOWS CUTTING DEEPER. PHOTON READINGS..."

"...negative."

"NEGATIVE. THIS NEXT EXPERIMENT SEEMS VERY, VERY INTERESTING. WHAT DO YOU TWO THINK? ...'YOU TWO?' WHO WAS HE TALKING TO?"

"i dunno. i guess maybe it was me and...that thing following him."

"Oh, I get it," Alphys said, pointing at the screen. "so those symbols correspond to a letter of the alphabet, _and_ the punctuation. Just enough to throw anybody off the trail."

"something like that, yeah. that next experiment was one i don't know if i could ever forget."

The windows on the screen cleared away, and another paused video opened up. It was a feed from a security camera in a rather large laboratory, with a strange device on the end. It was a glass-domed structure, slightly bigger than a person, and inside was some sort of chair for a subject to sit in. Gaster was already standing there in front of it, looking even more haggard than before and with new injuries, namely the large holes in the center of his hands.

"this was his greatest invention. this machine was what he called, an 'artificial save point.' one that didn't rely on determination to power it, but instead it took all the energy of the core instead."

"S-so, what would this thing... _do_ exactly?" Alphys asked.

"let's play the video."

* * *

 **==PLAY==**

* * *

The clicking of a loudspeaker came on almost immediately as the video started, with a familiar, but younger-sounding voice playing over it.

"doctor, i dunno why you're recording this. if you succeed, the video won't even exist."

" **Because, Sans, If The Experiment Is A Failure, We'll Have Documentation. It's Always Important To Have Everything Recorded In An Experiment."**

"alright, if you say so..." the loudspeaker clicked off.

The doctor turned and looked up to face the camera, which must have been mounted high on the wall. He adjusted his collar, then the cuffs of his lab coat, intertwining his fingers and cracking his knuckles shortly after.

" **This Is Doctor Gaster, Entry Eighteen. In An Attempt To Slow, Halt, Or Altogether Eliminate The Slow Encroach Of The Void, I Have Created A Machine That Simulates The Same Effects On Space-Time As The Several 'Save Points' Around Our Home. This Will Require The Entire Energy Output Of The Core, And If Successful, I May Be Able To Send My Present Consciousness Back In My Own Soul's Timeline, And Make Changes For The Better."**

He began to pace back and forth while explaining.

" **The Barrier Has Us Trapped, But It Also Leaves Us In A Space That Is Weakened. It Isn't The 'True' Space That We Should Exist In. I Was One Of The Few Monsters To Have Witnessed The Creation Of The Barrier, And Although I Was Just A Boy, If I Can Go Back And Stop Even** _ **One**_ **Of The Human Magi, I Might Be Able To Stop Its Creation Entirely."**

The loudspeaker clicked on again.

"doc...dad, that wasn't what we were going to do!"

" **Sans, We're Running Out Of Time. If We Don't Do This Now..."**

"and what'll happen if you do it, huh? what's going to happen to...everybody? what's going to happen to...me?!"

" **...Son. I...I Promise I'll Find A Way. I Promise."**

"i..."

" **I'm Doing This So All Monsters Can Have A Future. I Believe This Is Our Best Shot. We Can Do This, Sans, But I Need You To Trust Me."**

The loudspeaker clicked off for a second, then clicked on to the sound of silence. Off, on, off, on, off, on, off. And on.

"...okay. ready when you are."

" **Thank You, Sans."**

The doctor stepped into the machine, sitting down as its front cover hissed shut. A loud pair of clunking sounds echoed as the cover locked itself, and locked Gaster in. The loudspeaker clicked again.

"ready?"

The doctor, being unable to really respond vocally, just gave a thumbs up.

"alright. redirecting all power from the core to the machine now."

The entire world sounded like it was groaning in pain. The lights dimmed, leaving only the ominous red emergency lights to illuminate the lab. The camera, presumably hooked up to the same emergency power source as the lights, began to pick up a strange aura around the machine.

It appeared as if the machine had a white, semi-translucent energy field enveloping it. It wrapped up Doctor Gaster like some kind of scientific cocoon, and all that energy was awaiting its purpose.

"output at 96%. almost there."

Gaster gripped the ends of the armrests of the chair with his holey hands. It was clear that his mind was racing with the possibilities of all this power. His breathing became more pronounced, and his eyes began to almost glow with the determination he was known for having.

"one hundred percent! doctor! now!"

The breathing became even heavier, until suddenly...

...the camera fogged up in static. The audio feed continued.

The sounds of the loudspeaker began to click on and off and on and off and on and off. Obvious interference from something, perhaps the machine. It wasn't Sans' young voice though, it was Gaster's.

" **No! You're Not Supposed To Be Here! I Don't Want You Here, You Understand! Not Now! Not Now! Sans! Stop It! Stop The-"**

The camera's image flickered back on again, but everything was wrong. The energy field surrounding the machine had changed into an inky, almost infinitely black sphere, which obscured all visual confirmation of Doctor Gaster.

"doctor! doc...dad! dad! hang on, i'll! i'll..."

From off screen came a young skeleton, also wearing a lab coat, as he just stared at the black orb in front of him, stealing everything. Light, air...

...hope.

The young Sans' breathing got heavy, as he was preparing himself for the worst. Finally, he gave a sort of battle shout as he ran into the sphere.

The energy being released and changed rocked the instruments of the room, knocking several over, and finally shaking the camera loose. The final images it showed were its own tumble to the floor before blacking out for the rest of the video.

* * *

 **==PAUSE==**

* * *

Sans backed the video up to right before he ran into the machine's energy field.

"i remember what happened next. kinda. i ran into this...thing, and the machine was pretty much gone. it was...expansive. it felt like that darkness went on forever, but i just kept running. i kept shouting for my dad, for doctor gaster, but i couldn't find anything or anyone. i kept walking for what felt like hours. days maybe, i dunno. my sense of time got all messed up in there. and even worse, i could just feel like something was being taken from me. from my mind."

Silence.

"finally, i found something absolutely incredible. there was this...light. or at least, something giving off light. it was the light of a monster's soul, which can only really be seen in the right conditions, like when we take specific measurements."

He looked right at his brother, Papyrus.

"i found...a small, trembling, unconscious..."

Papyrus looked Sans in the eyes.

"...skeleton child."

It smelled like bones and beginnings.


	8. It's Still You

_"Heaven knows that you're with me now,  
And I'll do my best to hold on,  
Cause nothing is worth all this fighting now,  
And I won't give up till it's gone.  
Make it go away, go away..._

 _Cause it only hurts, when you cry...  
I'm only sad when there's tears in your eyes...  
I can't lie and say I'm fine,  
But it only hurts, when you cry..."_  
-Vertical Horizon, "When You Cry"

* * *

"what's that look for, paps? did you really think i wasn't gonna get around to talking about you?"

Papyrus averted his gaze for a moment. "I...HAD HOPED OUR FIRST MEETING WAS MORE...PLEASANT. FOR SOME REASON THIS FEELS...INCORRECT."

Sans gave a heavy sigh. "yeah, well, that's the way i remember it. somewhere, deep in this weird spacial 'crash,' you were lying there, unconscious. you were so small and helpless, i just...i gave up looking for gaster and picked you up."

"SO I WAS JUST...LYING THERE?"

"yeah. weird thing is, you looked like you were about three years old, i guess. i didn't think about it at the time, but when i went back and thought about it later, i figured that gaster's soul had fractured even more, and that you came from a much bigger piece. maybe it accelerated your growth, or maybe time was so messed up inside the crash that you were really there for three years. you were wearing that orange sweater that you always liked, and those blue pants. no shoes though, that was kinda weird."

Alphys scratched her head. "He was...fully clothed? When monsters are born, they're naked. Where'd he get the clothes?"

"i dunno. didn't really think about it. i just wanted to get out of there."

"And...how old were you when this all happened?"

"i was about fifteen. i'm thirty-two now, papyrus just turned twenty."

"WELL, I TURNED TWENTY ABOUT SEVEN MONTHS AGO."

Frisk turned their head back and forth between the two brothers.

"what's the matter? remember when i told you about the costume party?" Sans stood up and gestured to Papyrus' outfit. "what'd you think this getup was for? it was his birthday present!"

"YEAH! SANS WORKED REALLY HARD ON IT!"

"ah, don't give me so much credit. it was mostly your idea."

"THE IDEA CAME FROM THAT ACTION FIGURE YOU GAVE ME."

"ohh, right. i remember that."

Undyne slammed an angry fist on the coffee table. "Focus! We're getting to the good stuff!"

Both skeletons looked like they had the wind knocked out of them for a moment.

"right."

Sans began to pace around the room as he prepared to explain, holding his hands behind his back. It was a similar behavior that the others noticed in Doctor Gaster moments before he stepped into his machine. Like father, like son, or something like that.

"like i said, it was really dark in there. so i carried this child for a long while. at the time, i thought that maybe, just maybe, this child was actually gaster, and maybe he succeeded in going back in time, just not the way he imagined. it definitely felt familiar, i could feel our souls resonating together, but it didn't feel like our father-son connection. it felt more...how can i explain it. it felt like our souls were running parallel? it just felt like we were right next to each other in space as our time marched on."

"I KNOW WHAT HE MEANS. IT'S LIKE...NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENED, WE NEVER COULD DRIFT APART FROM EACH OTHER. LIKE WE'RE LOCKED IN PLACE AND MOVING FORWARD TOGETHER. IT'S NICE."

Sans nodded with a smile. "yeah."

The pacing continued.

It smelled like slippers and souls right beside each other in time.

"so i'm still wandering around this dark, black place, trying to find any sign of something different. i felt the kid shake really hard, and i looked down and saw a deep fracture in his collarbone. I put him down and lifted up his shirt, and i found that there were deep cracks in just about every bone in his body, and the back of his cranium was also damaged."

"WHAT?"

"i panicked. i picked him up and started running frantically. i kept thinking about how i just wanted to be back at the core. how i just wanted to get out of here and take this kid somewhere and get him help. i felt something surging in my soul, and his was starting to beat even faster, like it was giving me its power, somehow. i held on to my hopes that maybe i'd be able to see the core again, to see it from that cliff that has such a great view of it, and then...suddenly..."

He clapped his hands.

"i was there. i was just...looking at the core from that cliff in hotland. that was the first time i'd ever used my teleportation powers. gaster never taught me about those...he was planning to."

"Wh-what happened to the lab? To the machine?" Alphys asked.

"well, i watched for a bit as the core's lights all came back on. the power we were diverting to the machine must've been sent back to its proper place, so i imagine that the machine was powered down. nobody found gaster, and i heard later that the lab was a mess."

He pointed at Papyrus.

"getting him somewhere safe was more important. gaster and i had a house over in snowdin, and i figured i'd get him there somehow. i went towards the river and got a ride with the river-person. that trip felt like it took forever."

"DO YOU THINK THE RIVER-PERSON REMEMBERS US?"

"probably, but good luck getting a straight answer outta them."

"YEAH..."

"so we get to snowdin, get into our house, and i take him upstairs to gaster's room, the room that papyrus eventually took over. i laid him on the bed, stripped him to get a better look at his injuries, and...didn't know what to do. i knew that bones would knit if held together tight enough, but i didn't have anything that would do the job, much less on hundreds of bones. so i...cracked my knuckles and used the powers that i _did_ know how to use."

He held his hands out like he was clutching the opposite sides of a ball, and then closed them in. He sniffled a bit.

"i used my gravity powers to just...hold everything in place. at first, i tried doing it for each bone, but i couldn't keep that up, it strained me way too much. so i wrapped his skull really tight with some cloth to keep the crack up there stable, and rested it on a pillow. for the rest of his body, i just made a field of increased gravity all around him. i just had to make sure he didn't move. i pulled the blanket over him to keep him warm, so he wouldn't shiver and accidentally make things worse. it was...it was the only thing I could think of. i didn't know if it'd work, i was pretty scared..."

Papyrus wiped something away from saddened eyes. "SANS..."

"you were so small," he sniffled again, "it wasn't fair. you didn't ask for any of this, it was gaster's fault that any of this happened. if he'd only been more careful, so many lives wouldn't have been lost. you were so...so small and...so helpless...it wasn't fair...it wasn't fair!"

Sans' bony hands balled up into fists and shook almost violently. Before he knew it, his brother had already stood up. Long, gentle arms embraced Sans as Papyrus' jaw rested over Sans' shoulder. The smaller skeleton's hands stopped quivering, and reached up to wrap around behind Papyrus, clutching urgently at his red cape.

"YOU GOING TO BE OKAY?"

Sans patted his brother on the back and sniffled one last time, as the two let go.

"yeah, thanks bro."

"ANYTIME."

Papyrus moved back to where he was already seated, noticing that Alphys and Undyne had begun holding hands, dearly affected by the scene that unfolded. Frisk used their sweater to wipe their eyes and nose, fighting to hold it together.

Sans cleared his throat and regained his composure.

"i kept that field up for about a week. i barely slept, i just stayed by his bedside keeping the magic steady. i don't know if i ate anything either, i just...kept going. i had to keep going, i had to do anything i could to keep this kid from falling down. after that week passed, the cracks had gotten smaller and smaller, and in a few more days, they finally disappeared completely. i released the field and checked each and every one of his bones to make sure they were healed, and thankfully, they finally were."

"OF COURSE!" Papyrus said, flexing his bones. "MY BONES CAN'T BE DEFEATED BY MERE TIME-SPACE CRASH THINGIES!"

Sans chuckled as he continued. "well, strong bones or not, you were knocked out for another couple weeks. But now that i wasn't focused on keeping you together, i could actually try feeding you, and getting a bit of rest myself. i'd seen people who had fallen down before, so i knew you weren't in any danger anymore, at least, not too much. you were eating when i could get you to, and your breathing was normal. so i waited. then, one morning when i went to check on you, you opened your eyes."

"I THINK...I REMEMBER THIS PART."

"oh?"

"YEAH. I WOKE UP, AND SAW YOU, AND SAID YOUR NAME."

"yeah, it surprised me, because i'd never met you before that day. so i figured maybe it was memories of gaster's soul, maybe it remembered the 'pieces' or something."

"THEN...YOU ASKED ME IF I REMEMBERED ANYTHING, LIKE MY NAME."

"and you said your name was 'papyrus.'"

"THAT WAS...THE FIRST TIME WE'D EVER MET?"

"yeah."

"...REALLY?"

"bro, i'm not lying to you."

"I KNOW! IT'S JUST...SOMETHING FEELS OFF."

"i think i know what you mean. these memories are all scrambled up in my head, but this is the earliest one i actually have of you, sorry."

"IT'S NOT YOUR FAULT."

Undyne slapped her fist into her palm. "He's right. Besides, now we know where you guys came from. I guess you took care of Papyrus while he grew up, but...what'd you do for money?"

"well, for couple of years, doctor gaster's salary payments came to the house, they always did. i was able to use those for a bit, until...everybody started to forget him. before long, the king didn't even remember why we were getting payments in the first place. he remembered me, but since i wasn't working at the core anymore, he couldn't just pay me for no reason. it was...a struggle. i had no idea what i was going to do."

"IS THAT...TRUE? I HAD NO IDEA."

"yeah, well, i didn't want to worry you. finally i pleaded with asgore for any kind of work, and he told me i could always be a sentry, watching the door to the ruins over in snowdin. i didn't get it at first, and i certainly didn't know that the ex-queen was living just beyond that door. just that he wanted me to keep a lookout for humans. i knew why. we...all know why."

"DID...YOU FIND ANY OTHER HUMANS? BEFORE...BEFORE FRISK?"

"nope. when asgore gave me the job, he told me that we already had six."

"Did you..." came a meek voice from Frisk, "did you...ever see the other souls? Did Gaster ever work with them?"

"he did. and i know he..." Sans struggled to find the right words, "...he 'collected' two of them himself. i don't know if i was there. i don't know if i helped him. i really really _really_ hope i didn't. that's not me. that's not anything that i wanna do, y'know? i'm already a mess, don't wanna know if i did something that's so messed up."

"I DON'T THINK YOU DID."

"pap..."

"I JUST HAVE A FEELING. YOU'RE NOT A MURDERER, SANS."

The skeletons and human felt a heaviness on their hearts for a moment. Minds racing back to the park, memories flooding back of dirty knees, of tearful hugs and facial patterns being recognized. Recollections of high trees, a small lake, of a day that started off so peaceful, turning into a somber stretch of time marked only by hurt. And the smells. The smells all came back at once.

It smelled like 'i'm sorry's' and the looming shadow of a distant mountain.

"He's right," Frisk nodded. "You didn't kill anybody. I can tell."

Sans took a deep breath and gave the human another smile. "thanks, kid. that means a lot."

The mood lightened just a bit...finally.

"so that's pretty much it. we lived in snowdin for years, but a lot of people didn't know where we came from. made sense, since everybody forgot who gaster was, but then again, he never visited his home very often anyway. a lot of people weren't really too happy to have newcomers, especially when one of them was as rambunctious as a young papyrus. grillby was probably the only guy who welcomed me openly enough, s'why i spend so much time there."

Sans looked toward Undyne.

"oh! i never did thank you."

"Huh? For what?"

"a long time ago, papyrus had a run-in with some bullies. he told me you chased 'em off. i dunno, i just felt like i should thank you for that."

"That was like...ten years ago! I was with Gerson while he was going around delivering some stuff. But I remember that, yeah, those guys were jerks. They always thought that Snowdin was supposed to have some kind of 'pride' or something, felt like outsiders ruined it. One of em just grew up spending all day at Grillby's. The Royal Guard had a few problems with them scaring off tourists with violent threats. I...heh...decided to have a 'talk' with them."

"WOWIE, UNDYNE, YOU'RE SO COOL!"

"Hah! Nah, I'm just scary, is all. Not very many people who would like to take a magical spear to the legs anymore. Pansies."

"heh, well, thanks just the same."

"No prob! I love beating up jerks!"

It was about time some levity hit the room again. As the laughter went on, Sans made his way over to the computer, kneeling down and sending it into shut down mode, clapping it shut.

"so that's it. that's pretty much the whole story. papyrus became a sentry, trying to be a royal guard. i kept being a sentry, and before we knew it, a clever little human managed to change just about all our lives for the better. frisk, you got rid of the barrier, and set us all free. thanks."

The human beamed a familiar smile. "I was happy to do it. I'm glad we're here."

Alphys adjusted her glasses. "So, Frisk...I've been meaning to ask you...how _did_ you break the barrier, anyway?"

"Yeah, punk! How'd ya do it?!"

The smile shrank, and gave away to a quivering lip. "I..."

"whoa there, hold it. hold it."

They all turned back to Sans as he pointed at his human friend.

"if there's one thing i've gotten really good at, it's reading faces. and that face right there, that frisk is givin' us now? that's the face of somebody who doesn't want to tell that story yet. we gotta give 'em time."

"S-sans, it's really important! I m-mean, if we could figure out how..."

"hey!" Sans shouted, stamping his foot as he stood back up.

The noise shook the entire house, sending the sound of clattering cupboards and glasses tinkling around the entire perimeter. Papyrus thought about scolding his brother, but he couldn't, in good conscience, because he believed Sans was right.

Sans walked over to a now visibly shivering Frisk, placing his hand on top of their head as the human leaned into him.

"that ain't cool. if you guys can respect me enough to let me tell my own story on my own terms, then you gotta give that same courtesy to frisk, capiche?"

"Sans..." Undyne started, cut off by a scolding skeletal gesture.

"nah. friends don't do that to their friends. that ain't right. that ain't who we are."

He looked over at his human friend again as Frisk began to calm down. He tussled their shaggy brown hair a bit as they buried their face into his bony shoulder.

"now if you two aren't going to apologize to frisk, right here, right now,"

"Sans..." Frisk started.

His left eye glowed its ominous cyan.

"you're gonna have..."

Frisk hugged even tighter, the fear was palpable enough for Sans to rephrase himself.

"...well, let's just say you an' me, we're gonna have words," he growled.

Undyne had seen this side of Sans once before, but didn't expect it to be because of Frisk. Ever since they'd come to the surface, those two had gotten really close, closer than anybody would've expected Sans to get to anybody that wasn't his brother. She certainly didn't expect Sans to start treating Frisk like they were his third, human sibling. She didn't feel particularly fearful of what the consequences were, but after seeing this side of Sans again, it was regret. The kind of regret one would have for wronging somebody they truly respected.

She didn't even realize that she _did_ respect Sans. Strange.

He turned his head toward Frisk. "sorry, kiddo, i gotta pick my words better next time."

"It's okay," they said, squeezing a bit tighter.

The burning blue eye shot back towards the couple. He blinked, and the color had vanished, as his eternal smile returned. "so! anything you two wanna say?"

Alphys turned quickly into a nervous wreck. "S-s-sorry, Frisk. S-sorry Sans," she quickly said.

"Yeah. Sans, I..."

Sans gave an affirming nod.

"Sorry punk...I mean, Frisk."

Frisk lifted their head and wiped their eyes with their sweater again. "It's okay. I'll tell you...someday. I promise."

Sans tussled Frisk's hair again. "and i'll be here to help, if you want, sound good kiddo?"

"Yeah."

"Alright nerds! I think it's about time we headed home, it's super late!" Undyne said, grabbing her jacket.

Sans glanced over at the clock and realized just how long the evening had gone on.

"oop, hey kid, we better get you home before tori kills me. c'mon, i'll walk you."

"SANS, FRISK LIVES RIGHT NEXT DOOR!"

"yeah, well, i was gonna go for a walk for a bit, clear my head. you wanna come along?"

"NAH. METTATON'S SHOW IS COMING ON IN A BIT! THANKS FOR COMING OVER YOU GUYS!"

The four walked toward the door, Alphys and Undyne already heading outside while waving their goodbyes. Sans turned toward his brother one more time.

"alright, pap, i'll be back later to tuck you in, i won't be gone long."

"SOUNDS GOOD!"

Sans walked out and closed the door, turning to lock it so that he wouldn't upset his brother.

"yeah...it does. it does sound good," he said, smiling at Frisk, who returned the favor.

* * *

Already in his orange-striped pajamas, Papyrus sat at the head of his race-car bed. He held his knees up to his chest and rested on the arms wrapped around them, still processing everything that he'd learned in the hours prior.

The person he'd seen in his dreams was real. He was a real person, once, and both Sans and Papyrus were fragments of his soul, that somehow made themselves whole on their own. They weren't just brothers, not exactly, but it was probably the best way to describe it. They were all the same parts of the same soul, and Papyrus wondered just where "Papyrus" ended and "Gaster" began. Did he also have a part of Sans' soul? Did...did Sans have a part of his? That feeling, the distant heartbeat he felt when the two were nearby, was that...real? Do other living creatures share these strange...similarities?

And...did people have to die...so _they_ could live?

His bedroom door creaked open as Sans stepped in, taking off his jacket and dumping it on the floor.

"sorry it took so long. i was lookin' at the sky. i got a little _starry-eyed._ "

"YOU WEREN'T GONE THAT LONG, I JUST GOT HERE MYSELF."

"man, guess that one went right over your head, huh?"

"NOPE. YOUR JOKE JUST FAILED TO LAUNCH, THAT'S ALL."

"ohhh man, papy's got the _jokes_ tonight."

"WELL SOMEBODY HAS TO MAKE UP FOR YOUR SHODDY CRAFTSMANSHIP."

"craftsman... _ship_ , huh?"

Papyrus snickered, but couldn't hold back, finally burying his head in his knees laughing. Sans made his way over to the bed and sat down cross-legged at the opposite end, facing his brother, smiling.

"FRISK MADE IT HOME OKAY? ARE THEY ALL RIGHT?"

"yeah, kid's fine, they're tougher than they look."

"I KNOW, IT'S JUST THAT...THE FACE THEY MADE. I'VE ONLY SEEN THEM MAKE IT ONCE BEFORE, OVER AT THE PARK. I REALLY WANT TO KNOW WHY."

"well, maybe they'll tell us someday. however, i get the feeling it won't exactly be a happy story. it might not even be frisk's story to tell, if that makes sense. besides, frisk's still a kid, they got a lot of growin' to do."

"YOU...REALLY DO CARE ABOUT FRISK, HUH?"

"what? of course i do. i mean, we went through a lot, but..."

"HAH! THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT. I MEAN...THE WAY YOU INTERACT WITH THEM, HELP THEM, IT...REMINDS ME OF WHEN YOU RAISED ME."

"nah, get serious, frisk is just..."

"OH PLEASE. THE WAY YOU PROTECTED THEM TODAY, EVEN IF IT WAS JUST FROM INNOCENT QUESTIONS, YOU REALLY ACTED LIKE AN OLDER BROTHER TO THEM. FRISK SEES IT TOO, Y'KNOW.

"an older brother? nah, i'm way too old for that now. i guess i'm more like a...dad. or an uncle."

Papyrus snickered again.

"what?"

"A DUNKLE! A DAD AND AN UNCLE!"

"ohhh man, that's going in the journal for sure."

"MORE GOOD MEMORIES, I HOPE!"

"yeah. they've all been pretty good since we got up here."

"THAT'S...THAT'S GOOD! I'M GLAD."

Something felt off, like there was just a piece of furniture suddenly missing from the room. It was a feeling that Sans used to feel, back during his problems with the resets. Now, it felt different, and it was coming from the other end of the bed. The confidence that resonated from his brother felt like it was starting to wane, as Papyrus buried his head in his arms and gave a heavy sigh.

"you doing okay?"

"IT'S A LOT TO TAKE IN."

"yeah."

Papyrus lifted his head from his knees. "SO, WE'RE REALLY PART OF THE SAME SOUL?"

"i guess so. i mean, technically, i didn't watch you be...born. i just found you, and i could feel that resonance. the later testing just proved that we're related, in fact, they were almost exactly the same, so i figured..."

"YEAH."

Papyrus looked away from Sans with a troubled look on his face.

"YOU...WENT IN THERE LOOKING FOR GASTER, HUH?"

"s'what i said, yeah."

"I'M SORRY."

Sans tilted his head. "come again?"

"I'M SORRY I...MADE YOU GIVE UP."

"pap, you didn't make me give up, i made a choice. a choice i'd gladly make again. you know that."

"I KNOW, IT'S JUST THAT...YOU WERE HOPING I WAS GASTER, RIGHT?"

"for a bit, sure. i mean, he was trying to send his mind back to when he was a child, and he was really young when the barrier was created."

"WELL, I..."

"pap, i know what you're gonna say and you don't have to-"

"I'M SORRY I'M NOT GASTER."

Sans began to feel a bit nauseous just hearing the words, as he stood up and stepped wordlessly over to the window. He opened it, and gazed up at the stars.

"i don't want you to be gaster. i want you to be you."

"BUT...YOU SAID THAT YOU-"

"yeah, that's what i thought back when i was lost in that weird spacial crash. but as soon as you opened your eyes and said your name, i knew you weren't gaster, but at the same time? i knew i made the right choice. besides..."

Papyrus tilted his head in curiosity.

"...i didn't want you to be gaster, because gaster...wasn't happy."

"HE...WASN'T?"

"nope. he was present, but in every memory i really have of him, he's just...distant. cold. not in an uncaring way, either, but it was more like he was keeping everybody out. keeping people away, like me."

"SO YOU DO HAVE SOME MEMORIES OF GASTER LEFT?"

"yeah. no. i dunno. they're up there, but they're getting all cloudy, but the feelings are there. working with him at the lab. sitting down while he teaches me things like math, physics, my powers, that kinda stuff. he was doing things he really believed in, but he was so...scared. he was so scared of his research going to waste, of something happening to him and not being able to finish what he started."

"FALLING DOWN."

"yeah. he was so scared of dying, that he wasn't really...happy. that's why i wanted you to be who you are. i wanted you to keep being papyrus, because _papyrus_ was happy, regardless of the bad things that happened to him. and if you really were gaster, then you were getting the happiness you deserved, by _being_ papyrus. make sense?"

"I SUPPOSE."

Sans shut the window and sat back down at the foot of Papyrus' bed. "i don't want you to have any doubts on this, understand? you're my brother, the great papyrus, regardless of how you or i were made. we were made by the same natural processes that other kids are made by, just a bit different, that's all."

"YEAH."

"you're not gaster, and i'm not gaster. we're his...sons. right?"

Papyrus finally let a smile escape. "RIGHT!"

"right."

Papyrus lowered his knees and matched his brother's cross-legged position. A thousand words flashed in his eyes, but nothing seemed to want to escape. Sans could easily tell that Papyrus was trying to figure out just the right way to say what he wanted to say.

"s'ok bro, just say it."

Papyrus shook the cobwebs loose from his head.

"SO...WHY DID YOU TAKE SO LONG TO TELL ME?"

"i dunno, i...maybe i thought that, if you somehow _were_ gaster, that it would...i dunno, snap you 'out of it,'" Sans said, gesturing with finger-quotes, "and if i lost papyrus, i don't know what i'd do. i miss gaster, sure, but i'd really rather have you. i..."

Papyrus could feel the bed begin to quake. Tremors waved in and out with an alarming frequency, and its epicenter was clearly his brother on the opposite end. Sans grasped his knees trying to stop it, gritted his teeth trying to control it, and closed his eyes trying to ignore it.

Until something splashed on his knee.

"papyrus, i'm s-scared. i'm scared, alright?"

Almost two decades of upbringing told Papyrus immediately what to do. He'd heard the lines in his head several times, the ones that Sans always told him when he was scared, or sad, or otherwise. He never really had the reason or the chance to put it into practice before, but it was instinctual. The resonance of their souls told him how to react in the perfect way.

Saying nothing, Papyrus leaned over and grabbed Sans, pulling him toward himself and embraced him dearly. Their vicinity, being that close, amplified the familiar 'heartbeat' sensation that helped calm themselves, and it harmonized itself immaculately. Sans head rested over his brother's shoulder, his chattering teeth almost as loud as his sniffling and raspy breaths.

"p-pap...what are you doing-"

"WHY ARE YOU AFRAID?" Papyrus asked with a stoic tone.

Sans' eyes flashed with realization. Sans took care of Papyrus for years doing this at his darkest moments, now his brother was returning the favor. He had nothing left to lose, and nothing to gain by lying or playing it off with a joke.

For the first time in a very long time, Sans finally stopped holding back, stopped trying to brace the dam, stopped trying to weather the storm. He let go. It's what his brother wanted, and it's what _he_ wanted as well.

Everything around him was beginning to fade into a blur. There was no bedroom, no walls, no race-car bed. For all he knew now, they could have been in The Void and nothing would feel more tangible than this right now.

This was real. This was really happening right here, and right now.

"i...i'm losing my memories of gaster, but who knows if that's going to stop?"

"SO YOU'RE AFRAID OF FORGETTING EVEN MORE?"

"even more, y-yeah. papyrus, what if i start f-forgetting _everything_ about gaster? and his soul? what if i f-f-forget about myself, my memories, even my name?"

Coming from the opposite perspective, Papyrus finally understood just how hard of a job this really was. Feeling somebody you care so deeply about hurt so much. It filled his head with strange, unexpected regrets. He regretted berating Sans for being "lazy," at his job, for not taking things seriously. It all hit him so suddenly now that Sans was taking all of Papyrus' pain as a child unto himself, and in a way, that's how it always worked, for everybody. It's a burden, meant to be shouldered together.

He squeezed tighter and didn't say anything.

"papyrus...what if i f-f-f"

Papyrus hugged even tighter and braced himself for the words he knew were coming.

"f-f-forget _you?!_ "

It hurt.

"YOU WON'T FORGET ME, SANS."

It still hurt.

"you d-don't know that for sure! i m-mean, what if i forget everyone? asgore, undyne, alphys, toriel..."

"SANS, I DON'T THINK..."

Sans removed his head from his brother's shoulder for a moment to look him dead in the eyes.

"what if i forget _frisk?_ "

The words fell into empty space, leaving no room for more. Sans clutched at Papyrus' pajamas as he buried his face into his brother's chest, giving deep heavy sobs that Papyrus hadn't seen even once in his entire life. He knew that Sans hid a lot of things, and all this time, he thought it was information, or stories, or some dark, secret, shameful secrets.

No.

It was this.

Just...Sans. Sans was hiding...himself.

While his brother's cries shook his body, Papyrus' mind drifted back to memories of Sans telling him about the resets. All the little things that seemed to be pointing at a bigger problem than Sans would ever lead on.

" _do you remember what i told you? about the stuff i wrote about in my journal?"_

" _COULD WE...NOT TALK ABOUT THIS NOW?"_

" _i just wanted to know."_

Sans wanted to know if he remembered.

" _i'm sorry, i just don't want you to worry about me."_

Sans didn't want to concern him.

" _it took a long time for me to stop being a crybaby and become the jolly bag of bones you see before you today. i...didn't have anybody to tell this kinda stuff to."_

The conversation with Frisk at the park. Papyrus could even hear the lower audio quality due to being on the other end of the phone.

Sans wanted somebody to tell these things to.

Sans wanted somebody to _listen._

"I'M GOING TO BE HERE, SANS. TO LISTEN. TO HELP. YOU'RE NOT GOING TO FORGET ME, BECAUSE I AM NEVER, EVER, _EVER_ LEAVING."

"pap...if i do forget..."

"NO. YOU'RE NOT GOING TO FORGET. STOP THINKING THAT WAY."

"i..."

"AND EVEN IF YOU DO? THEN WE'LL JUST MAKE NEW MEMORIES. I'LL TEACH YOU WHAT OUR MEMORIES ARE. I'LL TELL YOU STORIES AT BEDTIME. I'LL FIND A WAY TO REMIND YOU JUST HOW GREAT WE REALLY ARE."

It was nice to hear the words, but try as they might, they couldn't snap Sans out of it completely. It would take something that really affected him to do that. It would take...

...and without warning, Sans felt a teardrop fall onto the top of his head.

The bawling came to a slow stop. The quivering slowed and stilled. His desperate clawing into his brother's PJ's loosened. His breathing normalized and the bed's tremors ceased. The room came back into focus, and he could hear his brother's shaky breathing fill the silence. His brotherly instincts kicked in.

"pap...are you crying?"

Papyrus sniffled. "MAYBE. A LITTLE. SO WHAT?!"

"oh man...i'm sorry."

they both gave deep, heavy breaths and managed to regain what composure they had left. Finally releasing each other, the looked into each other's eyes for a moment before Sans moved back to the foot of the bed.

"I'VE...NEVER SEEN YOU DO THAT."

"yeah, well, it's not really a happy sight."

"I WOULDN'T SAY THAT. HOW DO YOU FEEL?"

Sans wasn't used to hearing that question. He wasn't sitting at some shrink's office telling the quack what weird dreams he had and what symbols they represented. He wasn't waxing poetically about the "beauty of emotions" or some such crap.

...Crap? Is that how he thought about all this?

He was so used to playing it off. He was accustomed to just shaking his head, telling a joke, and moving on like nothing was wrong. And to him, it seemed like it worked. It seemed like he could just send those emotions away and pretend they didn't exist. Like he was banishing his feelings to his own personal void, but that was just...

It just seemed so stupid to do now.

To deny how he felt about all these stimuli was scientifically dishonest. To deny that there was sorrow, true sorrow, lingering behind that smile was nothing more than a lie. It was more than just bottling up emotions until the breaking point, it was more like memories coming back. Memories of emotions that he'd thought he'd forgotten long ago, that finally decided to strike at his weakest moment.

His weakest?

The heartbeat sensation was just as strong as ever., and they were now five feet apart.

It never stopped.

"i...i feel..."

It got a bit stronger.

He couldn't explain it, but somehow, letting all of his stoicism go, letting everything show, it helped. It felt like he got something back that he thought he'd lost. It wasn't his cherished memories, no, but it felt like there was some kind of...power returning. Like energy returning to its source, energy that he reclaimed for himself. Like he reached into a black hole and took back everything it stole.

"i feel...better. pap, i feel better now! i don't get it..."

Papyrus gave a sigh of relief. "WHEN I WAS A KID, AND YOU DID THAT TO CONSOLE ME, I DIDN'T UNDERSTAND HOW IT WORKED EITHER. BUT IT DID, SOMEHOW."

"i guess it's just...something that happens. maybe we're like humans, crying out the bad toxins or...whatever the theories are."

"I'M GLAD."

"that we cried?"

"THAT YOU FEEL BETTER."

"oh. y...yeah, me too."

Sans looked toward the bedroom door with a strange empty feeling in his heart. He'd kept his brother up for so late...it wasn't like him. He began to push himself up off of the bed.

"HOLD IT."

He turned to see his brother patting on an adjacent pillow.

"SANS. I HAVE TWO OF THESE HERE FOR A REASON."

"oh. i figured you'd want some time alone, to..."

"ARE YOU KIDDING? SANS, BEING ALONE IS THE LAST THING THAT iEITHER/i OF US WANT RIGHT NOW...RIGHT?"

Sans chuckled and shook his head, finally giving in and leaping back onto the bed, landing his head squarely on the extra pillow.

"right."

Papyrus pulled the chain on his lamp, dimming the room as he pulled the covers over both him and his brother. He nestled in as best he could, taking up what he considered "his side" of the bed and slowly letting his mind shut down.

"hey, pap."

"HMM?"

"how...do _you_ feel?"

He chewed on the idea a bit before nodding.

"I FEEL...GOOD. BUT I FEEL I COULD DO EVEN BETTER."

"heh, yeah. so do i, bro."

Another quiet moment. Time to drift off, and...

"...papyrus."

"HMM?"

"...thanks."

"OF COURSE."

It smelled like bones and broken hearts on the mend.

…

It still hurt. Just a little.


	9. Memory

_And I came such a long way to where you are..._  
 _Now I'm falling from this star..._  
 _And I can't forget it,_  
 _I'm not ready yet..._

 _'Cause the way you look at me,_  
 _I can say you set me free..._  
 _And no matter what you say,_  
 _I won't go away..._ -Vertical Horizon, "Won't Go Away"

* * *

The gray space unfolded itself in front of him again.

There was something a bit different this time. It was more like he was watching some kind of movie. There were boundaries that he could just...feel were there. Like he was staring into some kind of large, gray room instead of an unending expanse. There was a desk off to the side, but nothing else seemed to be here. A white fog seemed to envelop the edges of the room, and there was a colorful focal point at its center that seemed to distract from everything else. And it smelled like...

It smelled like carbon and...crayons?

The focus appeared to be on a figure sitting on the ground, looking at something. He was wearing an orange sweater and blue pants, and appeared to be barefoot. Somehow it looked comfortable enough to not need to wear anything on these metal floors.

The dreamer solved the puzzle immediately.

 _IS THAT...ME?_

Papyrus remembered in great detail what Sans told him. In fact, his ability to remember things was one of his strongest suits, often compared to the human idea of having a "photographic memory." These details matched what Sans described when he found Papyrus' body in that spatial crash.

The skeletal child appeared to be hunched over something, and Papyrus tried his best to approach and get a good look. Being a dreamer came with its own limitations, and he really had to strain himself to move even a few feet, but somehow, he did it. Looking down, he saw that his younger self was working on drawing a picture, and it looked like it was almost complete, unless he was planning on making a background.

Papyrus already knew that he wouldn't.

It was the picture that Sans had kept in his journal.

 _SO I GUESS I WAS THE ONE WHO MADE THAT PICTURE. WHY CAN'T I REMEMBER...?_

"WHAT'CHA THINK, BRO?!" The child asked.

From out of the fog came a comforting, familiar sight. A young Sans, wearing a long lab coat that almost draped on the floor, a blue shirt underneath, and baggy pants. His shoes were untied, because _of course_ they were.

Sans scooped up the picture.

"oh man, you're gettin' better, pap. that one looks just like you!"

"YEAH, I SPENT A BUNCH OF TIME IN FRONT OF THE MIRROR TO GET IT RIGHT!" He smiled proudly.

"well i guess it worked. dad's gonna love this."

 _HE CALLED HIM..."DAD."_

"COOL! CAN WE GO SHOW HIM RIGHT NOW?!"

Sans sighed and handed the picture back to his brother. "no, not right now, sorry. we're preparing for a big experiment, could be dangerous."

"AWW, THERE'S _ALWAYS_ AN EXPERIMENT."

"no worries, kiddo, it's not going to take that long. we'll be back for dinner, i promise."

"I KNOW. I JUST...I DON'T GET TO SEE DAD MUCH ANYMORE."

"yeah, i know. he's..."

Sans looked away for just a moment.

"...busy. he's really busy."

The sound of an intercom device clicked on.

" **-Sans, We're Ready To Proceed.-"**

Sans walked into the fog and made a sound like he was pressing a button. "alright, i'll be there in a sec."

"HI DAD!"

The intercom clicked again. **"-...Hello, Son. Are You Well? Are You Behaving?-"**

"YEAH! I DREW YOU A PICTURE, WANNA SEE IT?"

" **-...Maybe Later, After Our Work Is...Finished.-"**

Everybody could hear the regret in his words.

"AWW, BUT I WANNA SHOW YOU NOW! SANS SAYS IT'S REALLY GOOD!"

" **-It Will Have To Wait. Don't Forget, Alright?-"**

"OKAY."

 _I DON'T REMEMBER THIS._

Sans walked back out of the fog and knelt beside his younger brother, placing his hands on his shoulders.

"hey, don't be so glum. we'll be back before you know it."

"I KNOW, I KNOW. I'LL BE GOOD, OKAY?"

"that's good. oh, pap, the experiment we're doing, it's gonna take all the power of the core, and it's..."

He blinked as his brother tilted his head in confusion.

"...yeah you don't understand that. look, for a little bit, the lights might get really dark, so keep your flashlight handy, okay? don't be scared, the light will come back on, it always does, ok?"

"OKAY, SANS."

Sans stood back up and sighed, placing his hands in the pockets of his lab coat. "be good, okay? just...stay here and we'll be back before you know it."

"WHAT IF...YOU DON'T?"

 _YEAH. WHAT IF YOU DON'T?_

"aw, c'mon, we've never done anything that dangerous. we're just...well, i'll explain it when you're older. some of this stuff even goes over my head."

"I JUST...HAVE A BAD FEELING."

Sans and Papyrus looked at each other and placed their hands over their chests. The dreamer, looking on, knew that feeling immediately. The synchronized pulse of their hearts, of their souls. The dreaming Papyrus felt it now, too, remembering that Sans was sleeping right next to him, and it was a feeling that always comforted him, and it was only recently that he knew why.

"...well, just hold on. hold on to your hopes and dreams, for my sake too, okay?"

"DO YOU THINK SOMETHING'S GONNA HAPPEN?"

"i dunno, but don't worry, i'm not gonna leave you alone if it does. i promise."

 _HE HATES MAKING PROMISES, BUT...I SUPPOSE HE DID KEEP THIS ONE. HE KEPT...ALL OF THEM ACTUALLY._

The intercom clicked again. **"-Sans. It's Time.-"**

"alright, pap, it's time for me to go. see you in a few hours, okay?"

"OKAY! GOOD LUCK!"

Sans walked into the fog again, to the sound of a mechanical door hissing open. "...yeah."

The young skeleton looked back at his drawing again and smiled a bit, feeling incredibly proud of his creation. He placed it on a nearby desk and moved on to another sheet of paper, scribbling down the typical nonsense a child with no direction or inspiration would draw. The dreaming Papyrus found it a bit charming to see himself being so...well, cute.

Time passed quickly, and the lights began to flicker for just a bit, startling the child. He grabbed his nearby flashlight, ready to shine it on the demons he just _knew_ were hiding in the dark. The lights stabilized again, and the child found himself looking at the drawing on the desk.

 _DON'T._

He picked up the drawing and looked in the direction of the door. He mustered up all his determination and gave a decisive nod.

 _DON'T GO._

The child ran into the fog, the familiar door's hissing noise indicating that he'd left the room.

 _I DON'T UNDERSTAND. I DON'T REMEMBER THIS, WHY AM I SEEING IT NOW? IS IT A MEMORY THAT I LOST? LIKE SANS?_

A voice boomed from behind him...and also from inside his skull.

" **That Is What I Would Like To Know As Well."**

Papyrus turned around to find Doctor Gaster sitting in a laboratory chair, looking as if he were studying him and the scene that just unfolded. He appeared to be "normal" again, despite the cracks in his face and holes in his hands.

"GASTER! I'M GLAD TO SEE YOU! ARE YOU WELL?"

" **What Did You Two Do?"**

"WHAT?"

" **That Memory Was Stolen By 'It,' And Somehow You Got It Back, Despite The Lack Of Context."**

"I DON'T UNDERSTAND. THIS MEMORY WAS...STOLEN?""

" **Yes. It Was Taken From You When You Were In The Void. It Took It From You."**

"I WAS IN THE VOID..."

A spark of recognition flashed within his eyesockets.

"IS THIS WHAT'S HAPPENING TO SANS?!"

The doctor nodded, giving Papyrus a tiny smile. He was watching somebody else figure out the puzzle in far less time than he'd anticipated. He was...proud.

" **Something Inside Sans...Has Changed. What Happened, Before You Came Here?"**

Papyrus began to pace around the area, not even noticing that the hindrances to his mobility were no longer in place. His arms were crossed behind his back as he tried to figure out just what Gaster was wanting to hear.

"WELL, HE TOLD ME EVERYTHING ABOUT...US. WE'RE A PART OF YOUR SOUL, RIGHT?"

Another nod. Another smile.

"HE TOLD ME ABOUT YOUR...ACCIDENT. AND AFTER IT WAS DONE, WE WERE IN MY ROOM, AND HE...HE..."

A tear began to roll down the skeleton's cheekbone. He wiped it away with his scarf.

It still hurt. A little.

"HE TOLD ME HE WAS SCARED. OF FORGETTING THINGS. OF FORGETTING EVERYBODY. FORGETTING YOU, AND FORGETTING ME, AND EVEN FRISK. HE FINALLY TOLD ME WHAT WAS MAKING HIM SO SAD ALL OF THE TIME. HE..."

" **He Admitted It."**

"YES."

" **He** _ **Accepted**_ **It."**

"I SUPPOSE HE DID."

" **Fascinating,"** He said, looking away in bemusement.

"DOCTOR GASTER!" Papyrus stamped his foot.

The doctor was startled, to say the least, and it was the first time Papyrus had ever really had a leg-up on the doctor since they'd "met."

"DOCTOR, I REALLY HAVE TO KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON. WHY AM I SEEING MEMORIES THAT I DON'T REMEMBER, AND DON'T MATCH UP WITH SANS' STORY? WHY ARE OUR MEMORIES BEING STOLEN?"

The doctor only turned his head in a strange sense of delight. That smile grew a little, and there was something he really seemed to enjoy about keeping his children in the dark. Or maybe he just liked keeping a mystery building. It was almost sadistic-looking, and Papyrus had a feeling that it was more of a tactic, than a genuine feeling.

"TELL ME."

Still smiling.

"PLEASE."

Still no words.

"DOCTOR!"

Nope.

"DAD!"

It was a piercing word that attacked the Doctor, the shock sending him back into his chair so hard that it scooted back a few feet. He clutched at the left side of his chest, gritting his teeth and breathing heavily to try to ease the pain. That twisted smile was gone, replaced with a painful grimace. His eyes flaring open widely, his right eye not even trying to hold back its teardrop.

Papyrus moved his right arm to the left side of his chest, feeling something...strange. It was similar to the resonance he'd felt with his brother, but it felt different at the same time. It felt...older, somehow.

" **Papyrus...It's Really You, Isn't it?"**

The voice was still booming, like it came from deep within space itself, but it had changed. It didn't feel like a surgical use of sound, but rather a meaningful wish to say the words. There was a gentleness to it that felt like it had been lost for a ages.

"YES, DAD. IT'S ME. I CAN...CALL YOU DAD, RIGHT?"

" **I...Would Like That. I'm Sorry, Papyrus. I'm Sorry I Can't Help You. I'm...Beginning To Lose The Fight. It's Affecting Me In Troubling Ways."**

"WHAT FIGHT? AGAINST THE ENTITY?"

" **The 'Entity,' That Is A Good Way To Describe It."**

The painful look on Gaster's face finally subsided, and he focused his hands on his chest. A glimmering light began to form in his hands as he appeared to be pulling something out. He held it out to his son, who looked on in awe.

Floating above his hand was his soul.

It was a heart-shaped light, but it appeared strangely...incomplete. It was whole, but there were parts of if that weren't as brightly lit as the rest, although there was still light there.. Almost exactly one-half of Gaster's soul was dim, splitting right down the middle. And in the center of the brighter portion was a large, darkened hole that was the same brightness as the "missing half."

" **This 'Hole' Is Sans. This Entire Other Half...That's You."**

Papyrus moved closer, almost wanting to touch it. He held back, not knowing what affect that could have on his father. He was made from half of Gaster's soul. An entire half...but Sans was a smaller piece. He was so much stronger, though. Technically, Sans' powers dwarfed Papyrus' abilities. For a brief moment, Papyrus didn't think that was fair, until he thought about his brother's less-than-average state of health.

" **This 'Entity' Is Stealing Memories From Sans. Your Memories Of Me Are Short, And Few. It Already Succeeded There. With Sans, There's A Lot More To Take, But Something Happened. Something Caused You And Sans To Take Something Back. You Say He Accepted His Feelings. His...Emotions. Emotions Are The Source Of Our Magic, Even The Bad Ones. Instead Of Throwing Them Away, He Took One Of Them Back. I Think That's The Key."**

"DAD...WHAT HAPPENS IF WE DO FORGET YOU?"

The doctor's darkened eyes appeared to shift into something resembling sadness.

" **If Your Memories Dwindle And Disappear, These Parts Will Inescapably Fade, And I Will Have Less Than Half A Soul. It Wouldn't Take Much To Just...Move Into My Body And Take Over."**

"TAKE OVER? THIS THING WANTS YOUR...BODY?"

" **It Controls A Source Of Great Power, When Combined With A Monster's Body, It Could..."**

"POWER. EVEN GREATER THAN YOURS?"

" **Yes. If We Were...Merged, It Would Control Enough Power Enough To Escape The Void. Power Enough...To Cause A Great Many Calamities On Your New Home. It Must Not Be Allowed To Escape Here."**

"WHAT ABOUT YOU? MAYBE ME AND SANS COULD COME AND GET YOU OUT OF HERE! MAYBE THAT WAY..."

" **No! If You Come Here, It'll Only Destroy You. And Dust Has No Memories At All."**

"BUT...DAD..."

" **I Know, Papyrus. But...If You Can Do What You Did Before, Maybe You Can Take His Memories Back. You Might Even Be Able To Get Back Some Of Your Own. You Could Buy More Time, Maybe Even Stop It Completely! Just...Don't Come Here. Please Don't Come here."**

"DAD...I'M SORRY. I WANT TO HELP. I WANT TO HELP YOU SO BADLY!"

" **I Know. And I'm...Sorry It Has To Be This Way."**

Gaster placed his soul back into his chest, breathing in deeply in response. He stood up and looked down at his son. He truly was tall, towering almost two feet over Papyrus. He hunched over and hugged his child, who in turn wrapped his arms around his father's waist.

" **It's...Time To Wake Up."**

He didn't want this to end.

" **...Son."**

It really hurt.

* * *

There was always something about Papyrus' bed that was so comfortable. Maybe it was the mattress, although those were hard to fit into the frame. Maybe it was the perfect heaviness of the blanket covering his body, or maybe it was that extra, really soft pillow that Papyrus always kept at the ready.

Sans always thought it was something physical. Now he knew.

It was Papyrus.

It was _always_ Papyrus.

He slowly sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyesockets with the palms of his bony hands. The rest of the bed was strangely empty, but it was tucked in again, in impeccable form. His brother was nowhere to be seen, but Sans already knew where to look.

Sure enough, there was a note sitting at his lap, on top of the covers.

SANS,

YOU WERE SLEEPING SO SOUNDLY THAT I DIDN'T WANT TO WAKE YOU. NEVER FEAR, I TOOK FRISK TO SCHOOL WITH DUE HASTE! THEY WERE WONDERING IF YOU WERE ALRIGHT, AND I TOLD THEM THAT FOR ONCE, YOU WEREN'T HAVING ANY NIGHTMARES, SO I GUESS YOU'RE FINE!

OH! AND I'M OFF RUNNING ERRANDS TODAY, SO I'LL RETURN LATER THIS EVENING.

YOUR BROTHER,

-THE GREAT PAPYRUS

"...you dork. you didn't have to sign it," Sans chuckled.

Once again, Sans found himself amazed at Papyrus' ability to rebound. Ever since he was a kid, whenever something bad happened to him, he would always find a way to persevere, and he would do it with a smile. It was almost like perseverance was Papyrus' very nature, and his trademark confidence in himself was surely born from that very part of his soul.

He found himself feeling a strange twinge of anxiety in his chest, though, as this very scene was familiar to the skeleton who was trapped in-between resets. The first time his brother had ever perished, because of...

...Sans remembered that particular timeline. The first bad one, he spent all day in Papyrus' bed. Sleeping. Crying.

"no, no no no, that wasn't frisk. that didn't happen. we're here now. we're here and he's safe."

A last minute doubt cast its shadow over his heart, and he urgently grabbed his phone and dialed.

One ring. Two rings. Three rings. Four r-come on, pick up. Pick up.

Beep.

"HELLO SANS!"

Relief. A deep breath to replace the worried air in his lungs. Or...whatever he had.

"SANS?"

Sans held the phone to his head, but didn't say anything. He just stared blankly ahead at Papyrus' room, just happy to hear his voice. Happy to hear he wasn't...

"SANS, DID THAT MEDDLING CANINE GET AHOLD OF YOUR PHONE! CANINE! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, DEMAND YOU UNHAND-"

"whoa whoa! sorry, bro, i'm here. just...spaced out a bit."

"THERE YOU ARE! SANS, ARE YOU ALRIGHT?"

"yeah, i was just calling to..."

He had to think of something fast.

"...tell you that i'll go pick up frisk today, that cool?"

"THAT'S PERFECT! THEY WERE WORRIED ABOUT YOU. THAT FREES ME UP TO GO TALK TO KING ASGORE."

"asgore? what're you heading over there for?"

"I WAS...THINKING OF SOMETHING. I WANTED TO RUN IT BY HIM AND ASK HIM SOME STUFF."

"like what?"

"WELL, I WANTED TO SEE IF HE REALLY FORGOT ABOUT GASTER, FOR ONE."

"bro, i'm sorry, but i'm pretty sure he forgot. it's not going to change overnight."

"I KNOW! WELL, AT LEAST I THINK I KNOW. I JUST...WANT TO HEAR IT FOR MYSELF."

"alright, sounds fair. just...don't say i didn't warn you."

"I KNOW. YOU'D BETTER HURRY THOUGH, SCHOOL'S OUT IN ABOUT TEN MINUTES!"

"bro, you know me. i'm never late."

"WHAT?! YOU'RE _ALWAYS_ LATE! ...WELL, I SUPPOSE NOT WHEN IT COMES TO FRISK."

"yeah, i'd better get goin' though. catch ya later."

"GOODBYE! I'M HANGING UP NOW!"

"alright."

Beep.

Finally standing up, Sans took one good look around the room again, his eyes falling on the clock on the wall. Two-twenty in the afternoon. Did he really sleep for that long? Wait. Not only did he sleep for such a long time, but he realized something was different about how he slept...

He didn't dream. About anything, or anyone.

He just...slept.

"it's been awhile since that happened. it's nice. this must be what being 'well-rested' feels like."

He scooped up his jacket and slipped in on, dropping his phone into his pocket while he did so. He took one last good look at his brothers room before he stepped out and shut the door behind him. He looked down the hall at his own room for a second, but realized that there wasn't anything there that was important to him now. A dresser full of clothes, a bed, an unused treadmill, all just things. Just objects meant to fill space and to create convenience.

It smelled like bones and a brother who had what he needed.

He walked down the stairs, focusing his mind on his destination. The school came into his mind's eye, specifically a very particular spot that he usually teleported to, just in case. It was a spot nobody usually tended to be around, so he wouldn't get spotted. He put his hands in his pockets and closed his eyes, preparing his shortcut.

…

He opened his eyes again, nodding in approval to his decision.

He decided to walk. Just this once.

* * *

The swing moved back and forth, squeaking every now and then from the more rusted parts up top that miraculously still held it together. It was the oldest toy on the school playground, the only thing that hadn't been replaced by all new equipment, and Frisk loved it.

"hey kiddo, sorry if i was a little late."

Frisk gasped and forced their swinging to a stop, looking over to see that Sans had sat down at the swing right next to them. They gave him a smile that they hoped was matching Sans' in intensity.

"Nope, school just let out. I just got here."

"ah, that's good. i was worried since i was walking and i didn't want to keep you waiting."

"You _walked?_ " Frisk raised an eyebrow.

Sans rolled his eyes a bit. "yeah, yeah, i get it. don't tell papyrus though. he'll never let me hear the end of it."

Frisk giggled. "Okay."

Sans' feet, barely touching the ground, began to push the skeleton back and forth, with Frisk following suit.

"pap told me you were worried about me?"

"Yeah, I mean...you looked sad. When you were telling that story."

"oh. yeah well, later on me an' pap had a chat. he...he really helped me out, y'know? helped me realize that maybe i shouldn't keep things inside. well, for the most part, anyway. i mean, we all have secrets to keep."

"...Yeah."

Sans' swing came to a stop, as he looked over at his friend and sighed.

"hey, so...about last night. i'm sorry i got so weirdly...defensive. and i'm sorry if i scared you."

"It's alright."

"you sure? i mean...i know that you don't want to tell that story, but that doesn't mean i should've...reminded you about, y'know...us."

"It's not that I don't want to tell the story. It's just...really sad. And...I don't know if mom could take it. I want to be the one to tell her."

"well, if you ever need to tell anybody anything, just tell your ol' dunkle sans."

"...'Dunkle?'"

"hah, something pap came up with. like a dad uncle. dunkle. has a nice ring to it."

"I guess so. Sounds like something he'd come up with."

Frisk's swing stopped too.

"i was serious though. if you wanna tell somebody, you can tell me. you know i won't tell anybody. i'll listen."

"...Okay."

"well, just lemme know. in the meantime, i guess we could..."

"When we were at the Barrier."

Sans' eyesockets widened. He didn't exactly mean for them to tell him right here, and right now. He wasn't exactly about to stop them, either, but something told him to buckle up and get ready. He clasped the chain just a little tighter.

And so the tale went on. A story about friends being captured by a flower. Of dear friends having their souls all stolen by one being, desiring to become a god and bring everything back to zero. Of holding on to hopes and dreams. A story about Determination, and reaching out to all they held dear. A story of lost souls forgetting everything, only to remember all over again. A story about reaching out to Asriel, Prince of the Underground, and getting him to remember his sense of compassion and love.

A story of a lonely, frightened child, living with an unbearable fate, who used the power he stole to break the barrier, before returning it to its rightful owners. A story of a sad, forlorn existence, trapped forever.

Sans didn't remember when exactly it happened, but when he was done being entranced by all the details, he looked down.

He and Frisk were holding hands.

It was just a strange instinct to him. This story would've been tough for anybody, but Frisk? Frisk was just a kid. A very determined kid, to be sure, but still just a kid. Kids always respond better to a more physical touch than adults did, so he figured it would help Frisk keep calm, and...

...Who was he kidding with this scientific analysis? He wanted to help Frisk, and holding their hand helped. Nothing more, nothing less.

"that's...quite a story. prince asriel was that flower, huh?"

A now sniffling Frisk wiped the tears from their eyes with their free hand, nodding solemnly.

Sans gave another sigh. "yeah, i guess our happy ending ain't so happy, huh?"

"I couldn't...I couldn't save him. There's nothing I could do."

"i know, kid. sometimes...things are just out of our control."

"Yeah."

Sans looked at the human again and tilted his head.

"that face. that's the face that says you got somethin' more to tell me."

Frisk chuckled a little at being figured out so quickly. "I'm sorry, Sans."

"for what?"

"For killing Papyrus."

Sans lowered his head, and gently squeezed Frisk's hand.

"it's okay."

"No, it's not. It's not okay. I mean...I know he's here, and he's alive, and I love him so much, but...I killed him, Sans. I know I did, and you know I did, and it's not right. I didn't even know how badly that affected you, I didn't realize until we met at that hallway. I...I cried after you left. I cried and I was so scared, and of all people, you were the only one who was nice to me from when we first met, and you were gone. I killed your brother and you were gone, and I..."

"hey."

Despite everything, neither of them let go.

"you made things right. you did. you came back to the underground, and that 'entity' used you to reset. deep down? i know that was your decision. maybe you couldn't control the outcome exactly, but you came back to mount ebott of your own free will. something tells me you did it to make things right."

"Maybe. I don't really remember. I was just...so sad. I wanted to meet you all again."

"well you couldn't have done that without a reset, right?"

"Yeah."

"then we're even. besides...how many times did i..."

The words lodged in his throat. They weren't coming out.

"...Kill me?" Frisk asked, shaking a little.

Sans gave another gentle squeeze. "yeah."

"I dunno, I lost count."

"then we're even. i guess. besides..."

Now Sans was the one beginning to tremble. Frisk returned the favor, squeezing his hand in turn.

"i...don't really feel that great about killing a kid. i'm...really scared of it, to tell you the truth."

"You're scared?"

"yeah. all that stuff i told you about EXP and LOVE? that might not hold exactly true to humans, but it's something you can measure in monsters. i don't want to be somebody like that. i'm still...a little afraid to find out about my own memories."

"Because Gaster had souls."

"yeah. i mean...i don't know how he got them. i'm scared to think that i might've helped him. but i can't remember. what if i'm just another murderer? what if i'm just a killer who was just cutting loose? what if it just came natural to me and i just..."

"Stop."

That tiny hand was holding on so tightly.

"Just stop."

"sorry."

Both of them stopped shaking, both of them sighed heavily at almost the same time. Sans hopped out of the swing, still holding Frisk's hand and looking them in the eyes.

"still making that face? c'mon, i told you, this isn't going to go away overnight. we're just going to have to keep going. and hey, at least we're not alone, y'know? we got each other, and we got-oooof!"

Sans' speech was cut short by a very sudden, strong hug from the human.

"...Thanks, Dad."

It was a gentle word that washed over the skeleton, the sensation sending him almost forward into the human he was holding right now. He felt something in the left side of his chest, a glowing, tingling, warm feeling that felt like it was drawing them both closer together. That saddened look in his eye was gone, replaced with an ever-widening smile. His eyes flaring open widely, his left eye not even trying to hold back its teardrop.

"hey, i said i was a dunkle. y'know, like a..."

Frisk wasn't really paying any attention.

"well...i guess 'dad' works too."

It smelled like Frisk and Sans. Together.


	10. Aren't You Excited?

_I don't ever want to be alone,  
The thought chills me to the bone...  
I'll persevere,  
but I want them here..._

-Vertical Horizon, "Here"

* * *

Sans was beginning to grow tired of seeing this gray place time and time again.

It was the same color, the same exact amount of absolutely nothing. There were no landmarks for him to catch his eye on. There were no figures, there wasn't a single shred of existence to be found.

But there was...a sound.

It was faint, but it sounded almost like somebody was speaking, or at the very least, somewhere in here there was a television on. It had that same sort of..."feeling" to it, of electronic screens running active. Like a high-pitched vibration or an almost imperceptible whistle that drew his gaze to a particular direction.

Almost instinctively, he began to run. A strange urge for Sans, but he just felt something there. Something different. Something new.

Maybe something old.

As he got closer, the feeling got stronger, and the visage of three illuminated, towering glass tanks peered their heads out of the fog. He knew this was the right direction, and as he got closer, the scene began to reveal itself more and more. The large glass tanks were attached to several pieces of monitoring equipment, and inside those tanks were three...indescribable creatures. They appeared to be floating heads, but they looked like they had multiple faces. Too many faces to be real. Some happy, some sad, some neutral.

Standing in front of them. Of course.

Gaster.

"i still don't know what these things are, da...doctor."

From out of the fog to the left, a younger Sans stepped out, holding a clipboard and studying it intently.

" **I Tried To Replicate My Success, But These Things Aren't Like You. They Came From A Human Soul."**

"yeah, the one over there, right?"

 _what?_

The dreamer struggled to focus on the scene, when another element seemed like it was being pulled out of the fog. In a fourth glass tube, on the far right side, was a soul. It silently shed its golden-yellow light on both of the scientists.

" **Yes. I Tried To Copy These Souls...Create Them In A Similar Manner As You Two Were...Conceived. I Had Thought That Perhaps Human Souls Would 'Heal' As Monster Souls Did, But The Results, As You Can See, Are Just...Wrong."**

 _us 'two'? wait...did he make another...me? or..._

"maybe that's because human and monster souls are just too different. maybe they're incompatible."

" **The Data Certainly Doesn't Show That To Be The Case. Souls Aren't Just A Measure Of Power, There's Something More. Something That Just..."**

Gaster sighed and rubbed his forehead.

"you've been up for hours, doc. you really gotta take a break."

The doctor nodded, but continued anyway.

" **I Had Thought That When You Break Everything Down Into Data, Ones And Zeroes, That The Mysteries Would Reveal Themselves In Time. The Data Is There, It's Correct, But It Just Comes Out Wrong When One Attempts To Replicate It."**

"so how did you...create the 'bodies'? did you attempt to create them as if they were monsters? i know we don't know much about human birth, but maybe it's drastically different than a monster's."

" **...I Hadn't Considered...Perhaps You're Right. Humans Have This Unbelievable Source Of Power In Their Souls, But They Often Cannot Harness It Like We Monsters Can Control Ours. It's Almost A Joke. Monsters Can Use Magic But Have Nothing, Humans Have Everything And Can Barely Do Anything With It."**

"hmm. then what you made were...monsters attempting to emulate humans. still..."

The three floating heads seemed to gyrate in reaction to Sans' words.

"TheN HolD StiLL!"  
"THEn hOLD sTill?"  
"theN Hold stILl."

They repeated the phrase several times, each time they spoke, the others reacted as if it were a "call and response" in a piece of music. It was reactive, but it was also proactive. They weren't talking to each other, they were all taking _through_ each other somehow.

Gaster dropped his thankfully empty coffee mug on the floor as he took a step back. The look on his face was one of horror. The light in his eyes had dimmed, which for him, was a sign of something that caused an exceptional level of distress. It could be a tragic memory, or a terrible decision, or perhaps a neglect of common decency.

Or it could be all three.

It could be guilt.

It smelled like batteries.

"dad...what are they saying?"

That word. It was the word that Sans knew would snap him out of it, and even though it worked this time, it was just barely. Gaster's voice was shaky at best, and he struggled to force the words out as he clutched his chest.

" **They Were The Last Words That I...Said To The Human, Before...His Termination."**

 _oh god. no. no no no tell me i wasn't..._

" _you_ killed him?"

The doctor fell to his knees.

" **...What Am I Doing? Sans, I..."**

His son looked away. His dreaming son, however, clenched a fist and kept watching.

"i just...i guess i didn't think about where the souls came from. i just thought maybe they died on their own, and maybe we just found them? ...i guess that's pretty naïve of me, huh?"

" **Two Were Obtained By Asgore Himself, Two More By The Royal Guard. One Of Them Got Lost In The Core's Maze-like Structures And Starved To Death. This Last One Made His Way Into My Lab, The Day Before I Went To The Barrier And Tried To...You Know."**

"before i was born?"

 _i should feel relieved. i should be smiling. i should be happy._

" **Yes. He...Fought. But He Was Outclassed. Bullets Don't Hurt Anything When They Don't Hit Their Targets. He Gave Up. He...Wanted To Go Home. He Was...So Young. It Wasn't Fair, But He Would've Been Killed By Asgore Or The Others, So I...Decided To Offer Him An Act Of Mercy. A Quick, And Painless...**

"and he just...let you?!"

The doctor pounded his hole-filled fist on the ground.

BAM.

" **He Was So Young! Is This The Only Way To Break The Barrier? Humans Die, On Average, After Seventy-Two Years! We Could Just...Wait. We Could've Sent One Monster Out Onto The Surface And They Could Just Wait For More! We Could..."**

Sans dropped the clipboard and placed his hands on Gaster's shoulders.

An act of love, to ease the crushing guilt of an act of LOVE.

The doctor stopped shuddering for just a moment. He choked out the words.

" **I...I Told The Human 'Then Hold Still...'"**

"tHEN hoLD sTIll"  
"thEn Hold stiLL"  
"THen holD STIll"

" **And I Just..."**

BAM.

The trembling resumed, and both versions of Sans could tell that he was fighting a familiar urge. An urge that came with a deep tingling of the sinuses and the fogging up of vision. An urge that came with a deep emptiness in the chest, and a tightness in the throat.

"it's okay, dad."

" **Is It? Is It Really?!"**

The doctor rose to his feet, allowing Sans to assist when it was needed. He looked skyward, taking a deep breath that escaped through a quivering jawline. Another breath, and an increased sense of calm.

"...doc, look!"

Sans pointed toward the golden soul, which was now beginning to...pulse. Its light brightened and dimmed, it ebbed and flowed. It throbbed.

" **It's Reacting To Something."**

Gaster rushed over to the fourth tank housing the soul, typing frantically at a keyboard resting below a monitor. The images loaded slowly and then clicked into place, a picture of the soul, and numbers changing suddenly.

" **It's Getting Stronger...And Then Reverting Back To Normal Levels."**

"is it...reacting to what these weird things are saying?"

It had fallen into the background noise, but the three head-like creatures hadn't stopped chattering ever since Sans first said the word "still." They just kept repeating the words, over and over and over again, despite everything that happened. They didn't care that their creator had almost had an emotional breakdown, they didn't respond to his son's conflicting sense of right and wrong. They just kept going.

Call and response.

" **Memories. It's Reacting To Its Memories, Being Transmitted Through These...Things."**

"you mean...kinda like how you reacted when you...remembered that phrase? because yours wasn't really that happy, in fact it looked like it...hurt."

" **Emotions Are Emotions, Sans. And To Monsters, Emotions Are Power. They Are A Source Of Change. Magic, Essentially, Is Pure Change. Memories. They Seem To Be Giving The Soul The Will To Persist."**

The doctor began to pace around, his mind obviously racing with the possibilities of this discovery. He had failed in cloning a human soul, but this was worth even more to him now.

" **Existence. Memories Can Power The Soul, Give It A Will To Keep Carrying On, And Now We Can See That Others' Memories Of Us Can Perform The Same Functions. These Creatures, Being Monster Bodies, But Fragments Of A Human Soul, They Still Resonate With Each Other. They're Still Connected, Despite...Despite Everything."**

The doctor clutched at his chest again, but not in pain this time, but in _reverence._

" **It's As If Memories Are...Another Medium For Existence To Preserve Itself. To Keep From Disappearing. Our Loved Ones Aren't Gone Forever. They Live On Through Us, Right? We Keep Them...Right Here, And As Long As They Aren't Forgotten, They're Still With Us. Somehow, They're Still Here."**

Sans smile returned for a second. "sounds pretty philosophical for a scientist, doc."

" **Sans. I Know You've Noticed My...Recent Phobia."**

"you're scared of dying. i know, we all are, but..."

" **But Now, This Discovery Here? This Might Just Prove A Great Many Things. About Myself...You, Your Brother..."**

 _brother?!_

"so what do we do now?"

Gaster placed his hands on Sans' shoulders and looked down at his son, smiling.

" **We Make A Promise To Each Other. Right Here. Right Now."**

Sans looked up at his father, returning the smile in earnest.

" **Don't Forget."**

"don't forget."  
 _===='= forget._

* * *

A sharp gasp hissed its way through Sans' teeth as he awakened. He was resting in an unfamiliar room, his right hand propping his head up as it balanced on the arm of the couch. He felt a weight on his left leg and looked down to see a mass of shaggy brown hair resting on his leg, with a pillow in between for comfort from his bony structure.

Frisk.

"right," he whispered, "i walked you home. i forgot that tori even invited me in."

The human shifted a little bit, but kept right on sleeping. Sans reached up and pulled the blanket from the back of the couch, covering his friend, who clutched at it in response. As the sleep began to shake itself loose from his brain, all manner of stimuli were starting to creep back into focus. The smell of cinnamon from the nearby end table. The sound of dishes lightly clattering in the distant kitchen.

The steady, gentle breathing of the child resting on his thigh.

He sighed contentedly, for what felt like the first time in forever. It was a foreign sense of tranquility that almost seemed to be forced upon him, like he had his own blanket covering his entire body. Toriel was almost too perfect of a homemaker. The house was just the right temperature, it was immaculately clean, and the layout of the furniture and knickknacks were placed in just the right places to be perfectly comfortable and pleasing to the eyes.

All this time, and Sans still wasn't sure if it was the house, or if it was because of...

"Oh, you are awake," came a whisper from Toriel.

"hey," he whispered back, using his head to notion to Frisk.

Toriel covered her mouth to keep her muffled giggles from awakening their adopted child. Sans could see the smile in her eyes, and his grin widened in response as he had to cover his own mouth to stifle himself.

Toriel quietly crept over to the end table and picked up her phone. "I must have this as a picture."

"okay, just don't use the flash."

"Of course."

She took aim, and fired the perfect shot, stifling her chuckles again as she looked at the photo. She turned the phone around to show Sans.

"perfect," he gave a thumbs up. "picture perfect."

Toriel snickered, even though she thought the joke was pretty bad.

The noise was finally enough to rouse the sleeping child from their slumber, as they gave a short gasp while their eyes fluttered open. The looked up to see Toriel smiling kindly at them from above.

"Good morning, my child. Did you have a nice nap?"

Frisk rubbed the sleep from their eyes. "Yeah."

As Frisk raised their head from Sans' lap, the skeleton gave a chuckle, cracking his knee joint.

"i guess you really _knee_ -ded it, huh?"

Well now all bets were off as the kindly mother burst into cackling laughter. She began to hold her sides as Sans tried to hide his own giddiness. Frisk averted their gaze in an attempt to be the "Papyrus" of the trio, but that face twisting into a smile betrayed them immediately, despite how hard they tried.

It took a few minutes for the merriment to die down, Toriel having to wipe tears from her eyes. "My child, supper will be ready in about ten minutes. You should go wash up and go over your homework, alright?"

The child nodded and shed their blanket, Toriel picking it up and replacing it on the back of the couch. Sans took the pillow resting on his leg and set it on the middle cushion, patting it and beckoning Toriel to sit down. She did so on the left side of the couch.

"It's nice to have you over, Sans. I haven't seen much of you lately. Is everything alright?"

"yeah, yeah it's goin' ok. pap and i just had a bit of stuff to go over about...our past."

"Oh?"

"yeah, well, he doesn't know about our dad, and i decided to tell him."

"Your father? Oh, you should really invite him over! I would like to meet him."

The beads of light in Sans' eyes fell and looked off to the right. Toriel already knew what that meant.

"Oh. I am sorry, Sans."

"it's okay. it's not a very happy story, but...i feel better telling it to pap. i was scared he would...i dunno, hate me for keeping it to myself."

"Oh Sans, you and I both know he would never hate you."

He didn't know why, but coming from somebody other than Papyrus...those words were worth more than all the GOLD in the underground. There was always the nagging fear in the back of his mind that Papyrus was putting up a solid front, that maybe he was troubled and told other people his woes behind his back. Not that it wasn't his right to do so, but the idea of Papyrus hiding things from Sans was almost too hard of a blow to endure. Now, though, seeing somebody else chime in on the matter gave him the relief he'd sought for a long time.

"i know that now. still feels good to know. it's a real weight off my shoulders."

"That's good."

"yeah."

Silence, offset by the nearby ticking of a wall clock, gave away to awkward feelings of tension. Toriel gave a sigh and gazed in the direction of Frisk's room.

"Sans. Is Frisk...doing okay?"

"yeah, i think so. why?"

"Oh, I just...worry about them. They weren't speaking for the longest time when we moved here. They didn't even start talking until recently."

"oh. yeah, me an' pap took them to the park and...the kid just opened up."

"What did you talk about?"

"well, a little of this, a little of that. we talked about their trip through the underground."

Hiding things again. Sans special ability.

"they were...scared, y'know? i mean, monsters are kind and nice, but humans don't know that. they're told all kinds of stories about us, so...when the first people they meet is a large...boss monster and then a couple of skeletons? i can't really say i blame them."

"It's all my fault."

"tori, it's not..."

"Yes it is. I...when Frisk wanted to leave The Ruins, I told them not to come back. It was selfish."

"...why?"

"Because every human soul that Asgore collected...I met them first. In the Ruins. They all wanted to leave, to go home. By the time Frisk came around, I..."

She began to sniffle. It was Sans' cue to place a comforting hand on her knee.

"I couldn't bear it. I sealed the door. I shut off my phone. I cut all contact and I just...sat at home like nothing was wrong. Like I wasn't going to get hurt again."

"okay, so let's just say that's true, that you were being 'selfish.' why did you even come help frisk at the end in the first place?"

"Because I should've gone with them! Because I wanted to correct my mistakes! Because I wanted to stop Asgore from..."

"see? you _did_ want to help frisk. that isn't selfish at all. it just took you some time to figure it out."

Toriel sighed. "I've been around for a long time. I never once thought that I'd experience something like that again. I figured that I'd become immune to it in some manner. But something about Frisk. There's just something about them."

"yeah. i know what you mean."

"You know, I've gotten a call from their teacher. Their performance in school has drastically improved."

"that's great!"

"It didn't happen until you and Papyrus took them to the park. I...feel like you didn't just talk about their journey. Is there something you and Frisk are...keeping from me?"

Sans' eyes fell again, and he fought to raise them back up again.

"tori, i..."

No.

No more hiding.

"okay, here's the deal. frisk...went through a lot. and i don't know why they told me everything, i really don't. but i want you to know something. frisk will tell you...when they're ready. i made them promise me that, and in return, i promised that i wouldn't say anything, and that i wouldn't try to convince you to force the issue."

"Oh," her head sank low.

"tori, listen. if there's one thing i can tell you, it's that frisk is happy here. with you. with us. we all have these...scars. like a fog, or like there's these shadows following us around, right? you and the children, me and my father, well frisk's journey is their own shadow. you gotta give them time to shine the light on it again, y'know?"

"Time. Well, I do suppose I have a lot of that to go around."

"yeah. and besides, the kid's growing up fast. really fast."

"That is true."

"now, i want them to tell you. i do, and maybe i'll try to talk them into it, but you gotta respect the kid's wishes to keep it to themselves for the time being, okay? can you do that?"

Toriel breathed in and exhaled deeply in preparation for her answer.

"Yes. I can do that. Sans...thank you."

"for what?"

"For being there for Frisk. I know it might not have been easy with your job and all, but...I really appreciate you keeping your promise."

Sans took all his memories and shoved them into the corner of his mind, forcing a smile.

"well, undyne wasn't happy with my performance, but y'know, a promise is a promise."

Toriel stood up, but bent over to kiss the skeleton on the top of his head.

"Well, you can tell Undyne that I thought your performance was quite admirable."

An unfamiliar rush flooded Sans' face. A strange blue glow was very faintly emanating from his cheekbones.

Toriel began to chuckle at his reaction, and then clasped her hands together in front of her.

"I really am thankful though. You've been a real help to Frisk and...by extension, myself."

"yeah. we've all gotta move on, y'know? some of us just take longer than others to realize it."

"Hmm. That's quite mature coming from a very lazy skeleton."

"what can i say? i guess it's in my bones."

"Alright, that one was just _too_ lazy."

"probably!"

They both chucked again as Toriel looked back toward the kitchen.

"Sans, supper is almost ready, would you and Papyrus like to join us?"

"oh, papyrus is running some errands today, dunno how late he'll be."

"Ah, I see."

It was the feeling of canceling self-made plans that crept up on him. It was a break in routine, but for some reason this time it felt like it would've been worth it. Grillby's would have to wait another night. He wondered if the elemental was missing him since he hadn't been there in days...

"...but i suppose if you're going to twist my arm..."

"I promise you it is _not_ spaghetti."

"well how can i refuse after that?" He smiled.

The two made their way to the kitchen, Toriel's hand resting on Sans' back, almost like she were guiding a child.

It smelled like potpourri and, thankfully, not pasta.


	11. Aren't You Happy?

_Take me in, or just take me out,  
put me on, if you must, or just put me down,  
'cause I'm done...  
I'm all worn out...  
We're either alive, or a lie,  
I'm done with the middle ground..."_

-Vertical Horizon, "The Middle Ground"

* * *

He didn't know why, but for some reason, Papyrus found himself feeling slightly nervous as he approached the door.

After navigating the impressive garden path, which was short, but winding, the skeleton found himself standing at the top of the steps, rubbing his hands. It wasn't like him, but then again, he also didn't have so many thoughts attacking his mind like they were now. Sans meant well when he tried to warn him, but as good-natured as it was, it still didn't feel like quite enough this time.

" _don't say i didn't warn you."_

No, Papyrus would never deny that.

He reached down for his phone for just a second, but shook his head and, with a surge of determination, proudly rapped his gloved knuckles on the door.

KNOCK-KNOCK

The waiting was the hardest part. He had to focus on the sounds of nearby birds chirping, or the rustling of the leaves. Anything to keep him from being stranded in silence.

Heavy footsteps from behind the door alleviated the inner workings of his brain for a second, before bringing back the original source of anxiety. The knob and the door gently swung open, a towering, fatherly figure looming over the skeleton.

Asgore.

"Papyrus! Howdy! It's good to see you, would you like to come in?"

"SURE, YOUR HIGHNESS."

He crossed the entryway as Asgore closed the door. He didn't even lock it, which Papyrus found strange, but fitting for the former king.

"You're just in time. The tea just finished if you would like a cup?"

"SURE!"

Papyrus sat down in a cushy chair in the living room, looking at all the papers piled neatly on the coffee table in front of him. It probably wasn't any of his business, but then again, if Asgore didn't want them to be seen, he probably would've stashed them away somewhere by now. Papyrus had to force himself to look away.

The rest of the house was admittedly utilitarian, almost devoid of decoration except for a multitude of thriving plants in various places. In addition to the coffee table's myriad documents, in the corner was a much larger, more official-looking desk with even more papers neatly stacked and organized. At one corner of the table was a large glass tube with some kind of electronic components at the top.

Papyrus knew what, or _who_ it was meant for.

"Here we are," Asgore said, handing the skeleton a cup and saucer.

He took a sip, and while his teeth didn't really show it, his eyes gave the king a bitter frown.

"Ah, it might be a bit strong. Let me get you some sugar. Or maybe it's too hot? Gosh, I apologize..."

"OH, NO, IT'S ALRIGHT, I JUST DON'T HAVE TEA THAT OFTEN. IT'S GREAT!"

"Are you...sure?"

"OF COURSE!" His eyes smiled again.

"Alright then!"

The king sat down at another, much larger chair, the only one that seemed like it would fit his frame comfortably. He had his own cup of tea, of course, and placed it on the table to allow it to cool.

Asgore sighed, giving Papyrus a kindly smile.

"I'm sorry, I would normally ask how I could help you, but...I just have to ask you this. How is...how is Frisk doing?"

"FRISK?"

"I'm just curious, I suppose. I don't get a lot of free time nowadays, between the diplomacy meetings with the government and the like. And, well, Frisk is staying with Tori...el, so, I'm sure you could imagine..."

"WORRY NOT, YOUR HIGHNESS! THE HUMAN IS DOING WELL! I'M QUITE PROUD OF THEM!"

"Oh, that's a relief."

"IN FACT, SANS SEEMS TO HAVE TAKEN A REAL LIKING TO FRISK. ACTUALLY, FRISK AND SANS HAVE GOTTEN RATHER CLOSE LATELY, WHICH IS GOOD! BECAUSE IT'S MAKING SANS MUCH HAPPIER I THINK."

"Ah, Sans is doing well? That's good! I heard from Undyne that he was having...difficulty adjusting."

"OH NO, HE'S ALWAYS BEEN DIFFICULT!"

"I see," Asgore chuckled.

He took a sip of his tea, Papyrus responding by taking a sip of his own, not wanting to be left out.

"You know...I was the one that found Sans, when he was a baby."

"OH! YES, SANS TOLD ME THAT!"

"Did he? Golly, I didn't know he even knew about that. It was such a strange day, too. I remember I was going to the barrier to..."

Papyrus was hoping for just a second that he was going to remember.

"...to..."

"YOU DON'T REMEMBER."

"...hmm. I suppose I don't know why I was there that day, but I'm glad I was! I remember wrapping up that tiny little skeleton body in my cape and bringing him to The Core for safekeeping."

"DO YOU REMEMBER SOMEBODY NAMED...DOCTOR GASTER?"

"You know, Sans asked that question a few months ago. I'm sorry, Papyrus, but I do not. Do you?"

"I...SUPPOSE I DO. IT'S NOT IMPORTANT I GUESS," Papyrus said, hanging his head low.

It hurt a little bit.

"Aww, young one, just because I don't know your friend doesn't mean it isn't important. If it's important to you, then it just...is. Do not be discouraged."

"IT'S NOT THAT. IT'S JUST THAT HE'S BEEN...FORGOTTEN BY A LOT OF PEOPLE. IT'S JUST STRANGE, THAT'S ALL!"

The skeleton forced a beaming smile back at Asgore, who wished he could return the smile, if not for his eye catching on a particular document on the table. He picked it up and read it, although it was obvious he'd read it once before, that heavy sigh telling Papyrus that it wasn't a great read.

"EVERYTHING OKAY?"

"The government is keeping our existence a secret for now, but it is becoming harder and harder to do so. Here at Ebott, the people seem to be okay with us being here, and it's a pretty friendly place. But..."

"BUT..."

"There are rumors about monsters. About how we have the...ability to absorb human souls. That fear...that fear was what led to the creation of the barrier in the first place. Now, humans have lost their ability to perform magic themselves, it got phased out over centuries and replaced with science, so they probably couldn't exile us again."

"THAT'S GOOD!"

"Yes, but...those rumors are having more...distressing effects."

Asgore placed the document on the table and stood up, clasping his hands behind his back and looking through a nearby window.

"Humans are...afraid of death."

"WELL, OF COURSE THEY ARE, RIGHT?"

"Right, but us monsters, we've always been...somewhat okay with it. Sure, the funerals, the dust-imbuing is a sad time, but monsters have the ability to move on. Maybe because our souls are made of love and compassion. Human souls are more...complex. It's their biggest strength and perhaps their greatest weakness."

"MORE COMPLEX. LIKE...WITH DETERMINATION?"

"Among other things."

Asgore flicked down one of the blinds as he peered outside, catching a glimpse of a few monster children playing nearby before turning back to Papyrus.

"The agents have told me that there are some humans who...are so afraid of dying that they want a monster to absorb their soul when they die. They've even threatened themselves with suicide in order to get what they wanted. Thankfully, nobody's done anything that drastic yet, but...we can't keep a lid on this forever."

"THAT'S TERRIBLE! DO...DO THEY EVEN KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS?!"

"I don't know. The only monster who ever absorbed a human soul was..."

Papyrus had heard the stories before. Even though he was twenty years old, an adult monster, this moment proved that nobody really is ready for that kind of anguish. He didn't look at his former king now as royalty, the leader of the royal guard, or even as a big fluffy pushover.

Papyrus only saw a heartbroken father.

It smelled like guilt and golden flowers.

"My son," Asgore sniffled, "I think he would have liked you."

"HMM."

"I admit, I haven't known you for long, but...Asriel always enjoyed stories about heroes. He would have...really liked to meet one."

"YOU THINK I'M...A HERO?"

The larger one wiped a tear from his eye and cocked an eyebrow. "You...don't know?"

"I SUPPOSE I DON'T. I MEAN, I AM VERY GREAT, BUT I CAN'T THINK OF ANY RECENT ACCOMPLISHMENTS..."

"Undyne's told me a lot about you. Back in Snowdin, you were...revered, from what I've heard."

"REVERED?"

"Yes. She says that a lot of people found you to be weird, but they couldn't help but be inspired. You inspired people to do better, _be_ better. She even told me that you didn't really have many big achievements under your belt."

"...OH."

"No no no, wait! That's not a bad thing. What I meant to say was that your attitude was what inspired these people. You didn't do it through your deeds. Just being yourself was enough to motivate others. That's remarkable, and I'm guessing you had no idea."

"I...WELL, NO. BUT I REALLY WANTED..."

"Even your brother knew it, right?"

"WELL, YEAH, I SUPPOSE..."

The floodgates opened within Papyrus' mind. Memory after beautiful memory began to wash up on the shore, of all the times Sans had helped him keep his spirits up over his lifetime. It never stopped.

" _you're not the worst brother ever, because you're my brother, and to do that you have to be pretty great, y'know? i wouldn't have kept anybody less."_

" _kinda, yeah. i mean...pap, you have no idea just how amazing you are, y'know? you're probably the nicest person on this entire planet. you've got the biggest heart..._ "

"SANS..."

" _...heh, y'know what? sure. you can tag along. i might need the support."_

"Are you alright, young one?"

" _i don't want you to be gaster. i want you to be you."_

"HE...HE REALLY DID..."

"Papyrus?"

The skeleton didn't hear him. He leaned forward and braced himself on the coffee table with his hands, just staring down at absolutely nothing. It was a strange feeling, knowing that he had what he'd wanted all along. Admiration. Respect. He always believed in his own greatness, but he always knew that everybody around him was even greater. In a way, he'd always felt that he was less than they were because of that. Because in comparison, he was second place to a multitude of first-place contestants.

But now he wasn't. And Sans knew it all along.

"Papyrus?!"

It almost didn't make sense. Undyne wouldn't let him into the Royal Guard, but when he really thought about it, that was Asgore's decision, not hers, right? But she taught him so many other things. How to fight more efficiently, how to cook, she even offered to teach him piano. He'd always believed that she kept him out of the Guard due to incompetence in his combat prowess, but pieces were falling into place now. Puzzles were slowly becoming solved that maybe Undyne just wanted him to keep being himself. Maybe she liked him for who he was, and becoming a member of the guard would change that somehow?

"Young one?!"

And that's the thing, isn't it? He knew all along that the Royal Guard was supposed to be on the watch for humans, and he never once questioned it. He never thought that the reason they wanted a human was to kill them and take their soul, but deep down, that's what everybody in the Underground wanted. And Undyne knew. They all knew, and they didn't want him to become a murderer. Even Sans looked completely spooked at the idea that he even _might_ be a killer! Even under his own admission, Sans _had_ killed before, even if it was a non-existent timeline, and it tore him up inside. But Papyrus had never killed anything. Not once.

Undyne knew that.

It stopped hurting for a moment.

"Papyrus!"

The king's heavy hands landed on the skeleton's shoulders as he used the force to try to shake Papyrus enough to snap him out of it.

Something fell onto one of the papers below.

"O-OH. YOUR MAJESTY. WHAT'S WRONG?" He said, looking up at Asgore's face.

The monarch gently smiled. "You're...crying."

Papyrus blinked and removed the glove on his right hand, pressing bony fingers on his cheekbone. Sure enough, the familiar wetness told him that it not only was Asgore correct, but that it wasn't just a single tear. He had been leaking constantly for minutes now.

"I...ALWAYS FIGURED HE SAID THOSE THINGS...JUST TO MAKE ME FEEL BETTER. YOU KNOW, LIKE A PARENT, BECAUSE...B-BECAUSE..."

Asgore knew what to do next. He brought Papyrus in close and wrapped his burly arms around his friend, pressing the skeleton into his body. Papyrus gave in, feeling just how warm and surprisingly soft Asgore's torso felt against his skull, and while he tried to wrap his arms around the monarch, he found he couldn't quite reach, so he did the best he could, as usual.

"Papyrus. Parents don't tell their children encouraging words just to shut them up. They do it because they believe what they're saying. They do it because they know what they're saying is true. And while Sans is your brother, he took care of you, raised you, right?"

Papyrus nodded.

"Then by all accounts, that makes him your parent. He's always believed in you."

"YOU'RE...RIGHT. I JUST THOUGHT...WITH ALL THE JOKES..."

"Papyrus, people often don't admit their feelings. Those people thought you were weird, and never once told you any of this, right?"

Another nod.

"That's...because it might be even weirder to tell somebody 'you're weird but inspiring' or some such. Many times, people keep their true feelings inside, for their own reasons. I bet Sans is the same way."

Unbelievable. Asgore was right. It took a lot just to get Sans to open up to Papyrus like he did last night. Papyrus couldn't think of a single instance when he'd seen his brother openly weep like this, and now he realized that Sans did it for _Papyrus'_ sake, instead of his own. It was almost unfair. Just by existing, Papyrus had caused his brother to be gloomier than he needed to be.

The two released each other as Papyrus calmed down, wiping his eyes with his still-gloved left hand.

"SORRY ABOUT THAT."

"It's alright. I didn't think you would feel so sad all of a sudden."

"SAD? YOU HAVE IT ALL WRONG. I'M _HAPPY!_ "

"You are?!"

"YES! I FINALLY KNOW THAT...ALL MY WORK WASN'T IN VAIN. IT WASN'T WASTED, IT NEVER WAS! I...I FEEL SO FOOLISH!"

"Hah! That's good! ...That you feel happy, not foolish, I mean."

He let out a deep, hearty laugh as he patted Papyrus on the back, the skeleton beaming another smile as he thought about how silly all of this was. In fact, he was having difficulty even remembering how they even got to that subject in the first place, and...

...his upbeat demeanor began to sink.

Asriel. The train of thought began with Asriel. A great many things...began there.

"Are you alright now?"

His voice dropped to an almost-monotone.

"YOUR HIGHNESS."

He shot a glance toward the tube sitting on Asgore's desk, before turning back.

"IF YOU...HAD THE CHANCE TO BRING YOUR SON BACK..."

Asgore's eyes had shot wide open.

"...WOULD YOU? EVEN IF IT WAS...DANGEROUS?"

"Papyrus...golly that's...a really heavy question."

"I KNOW. I'M...SORRY I ASKED IT. NEVERMIND."

"No, no, I know the answer."

He knelt down and placed his hands on Papyrus' shoulders again.

"I would do _anything_ to bring my son back."

Papyrus rested his right arm on Asgore's. "AND DO...YOU THINK THAT CHILDREN FEEL THE SAME WAY...ABOUT THEIR PARENTS?"

"I do."

"EVEN IF YOU COULD...DIE?"

"Even if I could die."

Thick clouds of doubt began to give away to sunshine. His mind had become made up.

"YOUR HIGHNESS...MAY I...BORROW SOMETHING?"

"Of course. Whatever you need."

"YOU'RE SURE?"

"Papyrus. You need to do what's in your heart."

"...YES. YES I DO."

It started to hurt again.

* * *

Sans stretched his arms wide and gave a heavy yawn.

"that was great, tori. i might need another nap after that."

"I am glad you liked it! I hadn't tried this recipe before. Frisk, what did you think?"

"It was good!" The human nodded.

"it must've been. i've never seen you clear a plate that fast before. i guess tori's got some good taste."

"Oh, Sans, you're being too kind..."

She shut her eyes when she realized.

"Oh...oh hohoho that's a good one!"

"heh."

As Toriel picked up the dirty plates, Sans stood up himself and gave himself some time to think. For some reason he still felt a bit bad at not going to Grillby's, not because he wanted to indulge himself, but because he still wanted to mingle with the familiar riff-raff that frequented the place. He wanted to sit at the bar and just...tell Grillby what had happened. How he finally admitted that, all this time, he was afraid of forgetting important things, and he wanted to tell Grillby just how great his brother really was.

Papyrus.

It's _always_ Papyrus.

He heard the familiar ticking of the nearby clock shifting its way out of his mind's periphery. Turning to check, his eyes widened a bit, not realizing just how late he'd been here.

"hey tori, dinner was great, but i think i gotta head home. pap's probably waiting for me."

"Are you sure? I don't think I heard his car return yet."

"...he took his car?"

"Yes, while you were napping. I'm not sure if he's returned yet."

"hmm, well i'd better get home anyway, it's getting late."

"Alright. You take care, Sans.

"Bye Sans!" Frisk waved.

"take it easy, kid," he said, grabbing his jacket from the chair and stepping outside.

The sun was finally beginning to set on the neighborhood as its golden, reddish light bounced off of the windows of Sans' house. He felt the familiar crunch of fresh grass underneath his sneakers as he set off across Toriel's yard, still somewhat amazed that she'd managed to keep it healthy. She never was any good at gardening.

Sure enough, the driveway was empty, save for his green motor-scooter. His hand went into his pockets, running over the surface of his phone, before he shook his head and released it again.

"nah. he's fine."

He turned his key in the door and let it click, stepped inside, and locked the door one last time, just to make sure Papyrus wouldn't give him another lecture about the responsibility of locking things. The meal was still doing its work on his mental state, as he began to feel the desire to sleep rising. He decided to head to his own room first.

...Strange. There was a note on his door. It wasn't the same one he'd gotten this morning, was it? Papyrus did like to move his notes to make absolutely sure that Sans was getting them.

He pulled it just hard enough to get the tape to let go, then gave it a scan.

No.

No no no no no no no no.

No way. No. He couldn't be.

The shock sent Sans back against the far side of the hallway, his hand beginning to shake. The light in his eyes dimmed, and he had to close them to get them to flare back up again. Before he even really thought about it, he'd used a shortcut.

He found himself in front of Alphys and Undyne's house.

KNOCK-KNOCK

No hesitation.

KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK

No worrying about the consequences of disturbing its inhabitants.

KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK-KNO

The door flew open to an outraged Undyne. "Okay! What the hell is it?!"

"u-undyne...is..."

"Sans?! What do you want?"

"is pap...is pap here?"

"...No. He was here earlier though, he borrowed something from Alphys, but then went to Asgore's place."

"did...he say where he was g-going after that?"

"No, he didn't...Sans, what the hell's going on?! What's that note?!"

He couldn't even stop her from ripping it out of his hands.

-BROTHER,

YOU FACED YOUR TRUE FEELINGS, AND I FEEL IT IS ONLY RIGHT THAT I SHARE MINE. I CANNOT SHAKE THE FEELING THAT SOMETHING...BAD WILL HAPPEN, IF I DON'T TAKE ACTION NOW, AND I KNOW I SHOULD'VE WAITED FOR YOU. I KNOW YOU WOULD'VE GONE WITH ME, BUT I FEEL LIKE TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE, AND IT COULDN'T WAIT ANY LONGER!

I HAVE GONE TO MOUNT EBOTT TO FIND OUR FATHER. I KNOW THAT HE, AND YOU, HAVE SAID THAT IT'S TOO DANGEROUS, BUT AFTER TALKING WITH KING ASGORE ABOUT IT, I TRULY FEEL I HAVE TO DO WHAT'S IN MY HEART, AND I TRULY THINK THAT YOU ALSO FEEL THAT YOU HAVE TO DO WHAT IS IN YOURS. I KNOW I'VE GONE AHEAD, AND I'M SORRY FOR NOT WAITING.

SANS, YOU MUST TRUST ME. I KNOW YOU'LL FOLLOW ME, SO WE'LL SEE EACH OTHER LATER. AND NEVER FEAR! A ROYAL GUARD IS ALWAYS PREPARED! AND A ROYAL GUARD IS ALWAYS PREPARED TO BE PREPARED!

LOVE,

YOUR BROTHER, THE GREAT PAPYRUS.

As she read the note, Sans was fidgeting with a silver whistle, hanging from his neck.

"What the hell is he thinking?! Where does he even plan on going?!"

"he...he's going to...the void. or at least...he's going to try."

"Why would he do that?! That's so freakin' stupid!"

His parental instincts kicked in again. Something deep down told him Papyrus was right.

"no it isn't!"

"...Sans, I gotta go get him back before he hurts himself!"

"hold it!"

The eye didn't flash this time, but it was the same tone.

"undyne, i got somethin' more important for you to do."

"More important than getting my friend back?!"

"yeah. it's frisk."

"What about Frisk?"

"papyrus and i always take frisk to, and from, school. it's a thing. but i need somebody here to make sure they get there safe, alright?"

"What?! Why can't you do it?!"

"because pap's right. i'm going. i'm gonna go get him."

"You?! But you're such a..."

"don't say it."

"...Sorry," she looked to the side.

"i'll get him back. listen, don't tell frisk about this. don't let them even catch wind about it even a little bit. if frisk goes back to the underground...something bad really _will_ happen."

"You think that...entity thing is still there?"

"maybe. or worse. i don't want frisk to get hurt again."

Undyne remembered how he looked yesterday. About her unexpected respect for the short, stocky, lazy skeleton.

She placed a strong hand on his shoulder.

"Promise me you'll get him back."

"i promise."

She flipped up her eye-patch, and forced Sans' attention on her face.

"Look me...in both eyes...and promise me you'll get him back."

Sans clenched his fists, his gaze never wavered.

"i promise."

"Good. Because...if you don't, I'll never forgive you."

Sans sighed.

"yeah, well, if i don't, i'll never forgive myself, either."

Sans nodded and placed his hands in his pockets, vanishing from view.

It smelled like desperate shortcuts and determined sunsets.


	12. Yet Darker

_Half-light...  
I keep fading into the half-light...  
I know I've been here before and survived,  
But if you could keep me close in sight...  
In sight..._

 _Halfway  
Closer still, but I'm still halfway...  
I'll take your hand if you think it's okay...  
'cause I don't want to lose what's right,  
This time,  
To half-light..._

-Vertical Horizon, "Half-Light"

* * *

The shadow of Mount Ebott was growing ever longer as the sun slowly dipped below the horizon.

Sans' green motor-scooter was the only thing on the road, which made sense, since there wasn't a whole lot of civilization around the actual mountain itself. The streetlights flickered on just as the road was becoming more difficult to make out, prompting the skeleton to turn on his headlights in response.

He hadn't really had to test his ride out this hard before. It wasn't necessarily the fastest thing on wheels before, but after a few...modifications, he found himself easily breaking eighty miles-per-hour. It was a speed he was unaccustomed to, and he had a shortcut at the ready in case the worst occurred.

He had to be just careful enough. One shortcut means less magic to use when it was truly needed. Less magic to traverse dangerous terrain, to maybe help his brother, or to save himself from...anything.

The Entity.

He shook the thought out of his mind and went back to counting the lights as he progressed. He couldn't think about Papyrus in danger right now, he couldn't allow himself to worry about the worst-case-scenarios. He had to focus. He had to be in the moment, as much as the resets caused him to hate that idea.

It still left him plenty of time for self-loathing.

Sans felt a strong, burning sense of anger at himself for letting his guard down. Of course, right when he looks away for just a second, something would happen. Of course it would. That's how all his mistakes happened. Open the door just a second, and life finds a way to shove its foot right down your throat.

He was supposed to be a _sentry._

He couldn't even guard his own heart.

His mind's eye flashed back to Undyne. Calling Papyrus stupid for pulling this, he couldn't explain just why he felt that it wasn't. He always came to his brother's defense before, no matter the reason, but there was something about this that didn't seem foolish at all. Papyrus is Papyrus, after all. It only made sense that he'd want to help everybody, and with them both having dreams and memories of their nearly-erased father, what else would Papyrus truly do?

How could Sans have been so stupid?

He was finally becoming okay with who he was. His memory's slow return even showing him that he hadn't killed any kids before...

He was just about ready to start moving ahead. Moving on. With Frisk, Papyrus, Toriel, Undyne, Alphys...all of them, together. It seemed that Papyrus had more...optimistic plans.

Sans felt the vibrations of the scooter beginning to feel strange. It was a sensation specifically from his right side, down near his leg. It was stronger, and it was almost like it was interfering with the more normal sensations of the scooter itself. It felt localized to a small part of his thigh, almost as if it was inside his pocket.

His phone!

He slammed on the brakes, causing the tires to bark angrily as he pulled off to the shoulder. He stopped right under another streetlight, still bracing himself from slowing so hard. His hands almost fumbled as he pulled his phone out of his pocket, still trembling.

Papyrus?!

…

"oh, h-hey tori. what's up?"

Dammit.

"Oh! Sans, I was worried you would not pick up!"

"sorry, i was riding around, had to find a good place to stop."

"Ah, how very diligent of you!"

"yeah, well, i don't wanna get pulled over, at any rate. anyways, what'd you need?"

"Oh! Undyne called me just now, saying that she wanted to take Frisk to school for the next few days, I was just making sure everything was all right, since you're usually the one who..."

"...yeah, yeah it's cool."

A lie.

"paps wanted to show me a surprise, but it's gettin' real late and I just wasn't sure if we'd get back in time, so I asked Undyne for help."

Another lie, even among the bits of truth.

"Oh! Well I sure hope it is a good surprise!"

"of course, my brother would never surprise me with something bad, unless it's his cooking."

He had always been rather good at lying.

"Well then I do hope you two have a great time, be good, won't you?"

"of course, tori. take it easy."

Beep.

He sighed and shook his head. More lies. Lies on top of lies just to keep the lies under control. Complications. He was used to complications like this.

When it came to Toriel though...something about lying to her really bothered him. She was one of the first real friends he'd made, one of the few he ever decided to open up to. Papyrus had always been a bit jealous at how the people at Grillby's always knew his name, but Sans had never really gotten to know them very well at all. There was always a sense of mistrust among the patrons there. The skeleton who arrived out of nowhere, with a three-year-old brother in tow, living in a house whose owner everybody had begun to forget.

Keep them at arm's length. Don't let them in. Don't let them hurt you, don't let them hurt _him_. Stay strong for yourself and your brother.

But he let Toriel in. Fitting that they'd met at opposite sides of a massive locked door.

"sorry, tori. this might be a bit...rough."

He kicked his motor-scooter back into gear and resumed his journey, trying to get his self-pity to go back into its closet. Counting streetlights again, he found them becoming more and more sparse. A sign that he was getting close.

The city of Ebott shone in the distance, about twenty miles away or so. Hard to believe that when they all left the underground, they managed to walk that far. Even Frisk had to walk so very far just to fall into the Underground in the first place. A child...all the way out here.

Wait...if he was that far, then that meant...

There it was. Papyrus' car.

It was parked under another streetlight, next to a gap in the guard rail. He pulled alongside, parked, and hopped off his ride to examine the scene. Hopeful thoughts entered his mind at first. A foolish sentiment, really.

There was no boisterous skeleton in sight, the doors were locked, and the engine was cold. It was obvious that whoever drove this car had been gone for hours now. Papyrus never did waste time when he wanted to accomplish something.

"papyrus! you out there?!"

Of course not.

Sans took a deep breath, to prepare for the next leg of the trek. If he followed this path, he'd eventually find his way to the mountain and the eventual cave that would lead to his destination. He pulled out his phone again and dialed Papyrus' number, letting it ring nine times. Papyrus almost always picked up after three.

"no bars. right," he rolled his eyes.

He activated the flashlight function of the phone to illuminate his way. After another twenty minutes of walking, he had reached the path that would eventually lead to the cave.

"papyrus?"

Nope.

Coming around the bend, he found the familiar sharp turn that led to The Underground. It had been well worn by monster foot-traffic at this point, so there was no mistaking it. Beyond here, a dark cave that once housed the best view a monster could ever want of The Barrier. Beyond that...Asgore's castle.

New Home.

He cracked his knuckles, did a few stretches, cracked his neck and popped his back.

"here we go."

* * *

It smelled like Gaster's son...and garbage.

The caves of Waterfall were just as flooded as ever, as Papyrus trudged his way toward where he thought that "The Abyss" would be. He remembered the story that Undyne told him, about where she'd met Alphys, and he had to line up the pieces. She said that Alphys was "staring off into the abyss" and "looking contemplative."

He knew what that meant, and he had to shake those kinds of thoughts out of his head. That wasn't why he was here, nor was it a reason for _anybody_ to be here. And considering his more recent encounter, sadness wasn't exactly something he wanted to be weighing down his heart.

He lifted the strap of the heavy duffel bag he was lugging around, rotating his shoulder before deciding to move the bag to the opposite arm instead. The water was getting a bit deeper now, up to his knees at the most, as he waded his way onward. He had to find just the right spot...

Aha!

A small island of trash, piles of wood or perhaps boxes, were the only things weathering the storm from the waterfall's never-ending torrent. From above, the water crashed into the piles of garbage, but below.

Below. Here we are.

He remembered very clearly what Alphys had said the other day, about how the world under The Barrier would have been flooded if nothing could truly escape it. That the water had to go "somewhere" for that to not happen. It was mere child's play to deduce that wherever the water was flowing, it would be into The Void.

Papyrus hoped that there was still a way in there. Sans and Alphys' scientific jargon still went over his head a little bit, but he remembered the important parts. About a world that existed in a different kind of space-time, now returning back to where it was always supposed to be. The physical laws that were altered were most-likely restored to their original strengths once The Barrier was gone. If that was the case, there wouldn't be a need for a Void, right?

Then again, he still received dreams from Doctor Gaster. It couldn't just be another one-way street, right? That just wouldn't be fair. Besides the Doctor told him "don't come here."

That meant that there had to be a way.

...did Gaster _want_ him to find the way? Wouldn't he just have said it was impossible?

Papyrus gazed long into the darkness that spread below him. He squinted for a second, although he found that even less helpful, since it was now dark _and_ slightly blurry. He reached into his duffel bag and fished out a small personal spotlight, borrowed from the brilliant Dr. Alphys earlier in the day. He clicked it on, surprised at just how bright it really was. It didn't to much good against the yawning black maw underneath, as it only seemed to just swallow the light with no remorse.

He channeled his magic, summoning a short, white bone. He grasped it and threw it as hard as he could. He had hoped to find out just how far down the chasm went, and he might have, if the bone hadn't just fallen into the waterfall itself. He chuckled as he shook his head. What a silly idea.

He focused again and created a small platform made out of bones, and stepped up onto it. It bobbed very slightly with his weight, which he tested by bouncing up and down upon it. He felt no real strain on his magical energy, and he was surprised that the platform was as sturdy as it was. Maybe this would work after all.

It reminded him of one of his earliest sparring sessions with Undyne, before she'd changed the Royal Guard training curriculum to more...culinary exploits. She was every bit the stronger of the pair, physically, but Papyrus was always one step ahead of her when it came to combat tactics. Many times Undyne would find herself tripping over bones, or find her attacks blocked by walls of osseous matter.

" _How can you do that? Make those appear when you're not touching them?"_

" _WHAT DO YOU MEAN?"_

" _I mean that you're making your magic appear wherever you want to. Monsters almost always have to draw it out from their soul, like a starting point. They have to be fired out from the monster in some way. Even I have to do it, and I'm the strongest monster down here! ...Next to Asgore, of course."_

" _I DON'T KNOW. I JUST...WANT IT TO BE THERE, AND THAT'S WHERE IT APPEARS."_

" _That's crazy!"_

" _NO IT ISN'T, IT'S PERFECTLY SANE!"_

" _No no, I mean it's crazy awesome!"_

" _...IF YOU SAY SO!"_

A monster using the magic of their soul, they always have to fire it from their actual being in some way, but Papyrus didn't have to do that. He never really thought about it until now, but the pieces seemed to be fitting just right.

Gaster.

His powers to manipulate space. He remembered the photo of Gaster grasping a cup from across the room like it was nothing. This was another ability that Gaster's magics allowed him to do. Papyrus couldn't teleport himself like his brother could.

He could teleport his magic though. The implications were huge.

The skeleton gave a little smirk. He believed that his powers paled in comparison to Sans, but he never had a jealous mindset about it. He'd always felt like Sans seemed to waste his powers in order to be lazy, that if he had power like that, he would be a shoo-in for a Royal Guard position.

Even now, he realized that being able to materialize bones anywhere in his vicinity...it was just what he needed to get away from that...

He shook his head again. This wasn't the time to dwell on the past. Onward and...downward.

He continued to create platforms for himself to step upon. As he walked forward, he had to regulate his breathing to maintain his resolve. He was now standing on a small square of bones far beyond the waterfall. Below him was nothing but darkness. The kind of darkness that was terrifying because of just how daunting it truly was. Nobody had been down here. Ever.

Papyrus began to summon the platforms in lower and lower positions, creating a sort of perpetual staircase that led down. The slope was gentle enough, and because the steps were magical in origin, they thankfully gave off a soft light. It was enough for him to find the right spot for his red boots to step down on and continue forward.

The sounds of rushing water began to grow distant as he took steady, deliberate, and confident steps onto his own magic. By the time the sounds had disappeared completely, he found himself almost completely alone. Standing on top of glowing platforms, in thin air, lost in the middle of a choking darkness, never knowing just how far he still had to go.

He hated it. Being alone.

It hurt.

* * *

Sans' own nervous habits had shown themselves again, as his hands never left his jacket pockets.

Papyrus was already so far ahead of him, but Sans also had to wonder if Papyrus really took everything in as he walked through these caverns. The only ones between the Underground and the rest of the planet. This one cavern stood between every monster, and the true, warming light of the sun. No magic to filter its rays, no barrier to trap its heat inside. The cavern was strangely cooler than he'd remembered, probably because of that very reason.

Every now and then, the sound of some machine or another would echo through the chamber. Probably coming from The Core and its constant shifting around. He wondered if anybody was still there operating it, since he did know a few monsters who never really left this place. Maybe somebody was out there, reactivating and deactivating puzzles in accordance to some kind of personal calling.

Another loud crash snapped him out of his reminiscent mood, and he was a bit tired of standing in the dark anyway. A single green patch of grass, lit by one solitary ray of sunshine, and he was gone. Through the door, take a right, and he was right back...here.

This is where The Barrier was.

Here, a single human stood against the monarch of the entire kingdom. A scared human, trapped by the sorcery of their ancestors, and a king, trapped by his sworn duty to his subjects. Both of them weighed down by their guilt. Both of them at the mercy of the power of magic.

Maybe...maybe nobody really deserved that kind of power. Magic was nothing but a source of misery for so many. Humans feared it so much that they decided to banish it, and if the surface world was any indication, any hints at its use by human hands was stricken by any and all records. Maybe it was for religious reasons, maybe it was just forgotten.

But...he was made of magic. His brother was made of magic. Everybody he cared about was made of magic, except for one single, incredible being. That being that proved to be stronger than all the monsters of the Underground combined.

This was the place where, according to Frisk, they faced Asriel.

The story was still quite unreal. He wanted to pick Alphys' brain about her experiments with determination after hearing the entire story. Maybe he just wanted to help her come to terms with what she had done in the past, like she did a few days ago. Help her move on, scientist to scientist.

Asriel. The prince of all monsters. A boss monster, only the third known boss monster in existence. Frisk had told him that they felt so sorry for him. That he tried to kill them, and they reached out anyway. They called his name, over and over again. They tried to save him, and they succeeded! Except...

Wait.

Something obstructed Sans' leg in the dark. His hands left his pockets to clear the obstacle so that he wouldn't trip, but he felt something lash around his wrist. Then his other wrist. Then his other leg. The original blockage had entwined his last free leg and stretched all his limbs out as far as they could. They pulled him up, suspending him in the center of the room, until he decided to flash his left eye's magic again. The magic told him everything he needed to know.

Vines.

He hadn't expected this. How could he have been so stupid?

"Howdy, Trashbag! It's been so long!"

That twisted, smiling face.

Six golden petals.

It smelled like your best friend.


	13. Your Best Friend

_All of your kindness,  
All of your blindness,  
I hope you realize this,  
I'm giving it back to you…  
All of your hatred,  
That you hold so sacred,  
I am elated,  
To give it back to you…_

–Vertical Horizon, "Back To You"

* * *

Sans' first instincts were to struggle. Pull his arms toward his chest as hard as he could, and fight the tension. The vines wrapped tighter, and even through his jacket sleeves, he could feel his wrists burning as he fought his unexpected captor.

"Golly," Flowey chuckled, "I really wish I could tell you just how much I lost when you left here!"

"lost...right. like we...were yours to begin with..."

"You were! And then you left me all alone down here! Broken...thrown away...and after all that? Even the power to save and load were stolen from me! Could you imagine being a god, and then having it all swatted out of your hand by somebody who's even weaker than you?"

In a way, Sans did know what that felt like. He didn't have the power to reset timelines, no, but he did have the ability to retain knowledge. He could know what would happen before it did, he could see the shadows cast by the fires everybody else stared into. In a way, he had the Underground on lockdown, but Frisk was still the unknown variable that could ruin everything. They were the one thing he could never predict.

"i don't suppose...i could convince you to let...me go, huh?"

The vines choked a bit tighter.

"Why would I do that? I haven't had this much fun in a long time."

"i really don't...have time...for this."

"Time? Oh, well why didn't you say so? We could always skip to the good part."

Flowey's smile grew more twisted. Everything became even tighter.

"heh, guess it...was worth a...try..."

Another vine began to worm its way around his torso, under his shirt. He could feel it start to intertwine around his spinal column, interlacing between his ribs. Sans could feel it every time he took a breath, he could feel it press against the beating of his magical heart.

And then even _tighter._

"I've been waiting a very, _very_ long time for this. You've caused me nothing but trouble, you know!"

"yeah...well...papyrus always...did say...i was...good at causing...t...troub..."

They loosened.

"what's...wrong, you...stopped?"

Flowey's face became unusually contemplative.

"I just don't get it. Why, after all of this, did you two even come back here in the first place? I thought you were miserable in Snowdin. That's what your brother always told me. I figured after leaving the Underground that you'd return!"

The skeleton tilted his head in confusion, and stopped struggling. "papyrus...told you..."

"Yeah! He told me just how much the people of Snowdin didn't trust you guys! I guess you guys really are idiots for staying there as long as you did, huh?"

"i don't...get you..."

"What's there to get?" The flower smiled, "I'm just enforcing the laws of this world. It's kill...or be killed."

Tighter again. The growth on his spine stretched up to his neck and clinched itself deep into it, denying Sans even the ability to move his head now. Just one sharp twist would be enough to...

"so...why haven't you...done it...yet...?"

"Gosh, you must not be paying attention! I want to have some fun! You caused me to reset a fair number of times. It's about time I give some of it back, you know?"

Sans could no longer move any part of his body. The vines around his limbs had stretched him to its absolute limit, and any more strain could threaten to...detach them entirely. His mind was racing, thoughts of his brother, alone in The Void. Thoughts of his father, who he would probably never see again. Thoughts of this flower...

...and just how easy it would be for him to escape.

"So instead of killing you, I'm just going to keep you here. Forever! Eventually you'll be _begging_ me to let you go! Won't that be fun?!"

Not a reset, but another prison, again constructed by the shackles of time. It would be nothing for Sans to just...end this now, but after hearing Frisk's side of the story, he felt he had to try just a little bit harder. A promise he never actually made, but decided to keep anyway.

He focused again on the patterns he'd witnessed just now. The flower was certainly interested in Papyrus, which he'd already known about, but he seemed to be almost forlorn when it came to the subject of Sans' brother. A name that meant something to his captor, perhaps that was the key. It was clear that Frisk was another such name that held power over his mind, it cast the shadows of doubt over Flowey.

Knowledge. The lack of knowledge was hurting him inside.

"that...face," Sans released the magic in his left eye.

"Hmm?"

"you...want to know...something...right? something's...really bothering you..."

"Don't pretend like you know anything about me!"

Bingo.

Sans knew his type all too well. The schemer. The one who wants to pull all the strings, and what better way to do that than to use his powers with resetting time to get everything he needed? Sans, of course, had done the same thing, but Flowey somehow seemed to have slipped up somewhere. His lack of compassion for others, it closed doors to him, doors he could never open again. Once he'd made enough mistakes, that information was lost to him forever. Sans could tell...he truly hated it.

"i know...everything. frisk told me...and they said that...you always were pretty smart...so c'mon, what's...what's bothering you?"

"Why? You're not going to tell me anyway, right? That's always been your response."

"well...it's not like...i'm going anywhere...right?"

Flowey gave the skeleton a very smug grin.

"You're right. I guess you don't have a choice, huh? You want to find Papyrus."

"y...yeah. you said you saw pap...right? but you didn't...catch him...otherwise he'd be...here...right? what...he's too strong for you...?"

"No, I just...let him go, that's all!"

"when...you're nothing...but a face...it's really hard to hide when you're lying..."

Sans returned the smugness a hundredfold.

"I just wanted to know why you came back here in the first place. Aren't you happy on the surface with all your 'human' friends, like Frisk?"

"it's...not that...easy, you know. besides...we have something...to finish."

Flowey squinted his eyes for a second. It became clear that his mind was drowning in thoughts and questions. The patterns were there, all lining up. Maybe Sans wouldn't have to do anything after all.

"What happened to Papyrus?"

The vines began to loosen again, to the point that Sans only felt the constriction around his arms and legs. He spent a good few seconds catching his breath again, trying to regain his composure.

"nothing happened, really. he just learned the truth about where we...came from. and now he's here to fix something."

Yes. Keep it vague. Keep him interested.

"That's not what I meant."

"oh? maybe you should be more clear."

Flowey's face turned to an almost demonic, infernal shape. "Don't test me, bonehead!"

It smelled like ivy, and hatred. Of enmity and determination.

"There was...something different."

"different, huh? must really bug you when things aren't how you expect them to be."

The flower averted his gaze. Sans was gaining ground. Fitting, since he was nowhere near it at the time.

"Something was different about him. He just kept going. He almost... _ignored_ me!"

"that's just how he is when he's determined. but hey, maybe you should tell me what happened. c'mon, you can trust your old pal, sans."

Flowey leered angrily at Sans, before returning to a jovial smile.

"Fine, you know what? Sure, I'll tell you what happened. I'll give you one last memory with your brother, since you won't ever be seeing him again."

Like putty in his hands.

* * *

Red boots crunched on the rocky cavern floor as Papyrus strode confidently through. It was quite dark, and he could barely make out the exit regardless of how much sunlight streamed in through the entrance he had just taken.

He felt a bit guilty for not waiting for Sans. He knew his brother would be coming for him, and he even had a feeling that Sans wouldn't even attempt to stop him, just tag along. There was just something that felt so urgent about today. If he was getting memories back, then Sans was surely getting his, and if that thing really wanted them to forget, it only made sense that it would want to pull back harder at the strings binding them all together.

No. Had to get those thoughts out of his mind.

The Great Papyrus couldn't spare any time for guilt. That wasn't who he was.

His march became bolder and bolder, the duffel bag bouncing cheerily off of his hipbone. He just had to keep going, get through New Home, past The Core. Get through Hotland, even though he hated the place, and get to Waterfall. That's where Sans said that The Abyss was, right? That place that, if any monster fell into, they never returned? He never really thought about it before, but the garbage dump sitting atop The Abyss was perhaps one of the most dangerous places in the Underground, even more so than Hotland's sea of magma. At least in Hotland there were security measures in place to keep citizens from falling in, and to keep the cavern structure safe enough for travel.

He took a hard right, and found a chamber flooded with memories. It was a simple place, befitting of a room adjacent of the Royal Palace, much less right behind the throne room. Dimly lit, but the spot in the center was brighter than everything else in his mind.

This was where Frisk was lying, unconscious. Unmoving.

It hurt.

He hoped that maybe seeing this place again would give him another memory, or a flashback or...something. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

Nothing. A painful binding of vines, the use of his powers to protect the human, and then the growing white light that engulfed everything, and then...

Then he was here. With his friends, with his new best friend, Frisk.

Papyrus was the first to break down crying. The human just wasn't moving at all, and their breathing was so slow and shallow that Alphys said she feared the worst, that Frisk might be dying. Sans made fun of him after the fact, but it was him who comforted Papyrus as he sobbed. It wasn't fair, they had only met earlier that day, how could they just get taken away like this?

Another deep breath came as Papyrus gave a smile to nobody in particular. It all worked out, in the end. Frisk woke up, and The Barrier was gone. Somehow, they had found a way. Somehow, the human had freed everybody. Somehow, they all made a life for themselves on the surface. Somehow.

And now it was Papyrus' turn to free somebody. It was his turn to find his "somehow."

He strode through the chamber, ignoring the sounds of the earth splitting apart next to him. He didn't even see the flower poking its head up with a smile.

"Howdy, Papyrus!"

He kept walking. The flower popped up next to him again.

"Golly, you wouldn't be ignoring your best friend, would you?"

There wasn't any time for this. One more step, and one more try.

"Papyrus! It's me, Flowey!"

"I KNOW."

More steps forward. Ever forward. The Void or bust.

"You..."

The doorway became blocked by an almost impressive mass of green, thorny vines, causing the skeleton to halt in his tracks. Papyrus gently set the duffel bag on the ground, not wanting to damage his cargo in the scuffle that he knew was coming.

"...you idiot!"

Papyrus spun around to find a massively thick, sharp vine headed straight for his chest. Cyan magic shimmered around his crimson gloves, as he held his hands out. In response, a lattice of blue bones materialized in front of him, blocking the vine and causing Flowey to screech in pain.

Blue magic. Don't move and it won't hurt.

It didn't hurt.

"FLOWEY, DON'T THINK I HAVE FORGOTTEN YOU."

"Stupid!"

More vines fired from several different angles of the room, making it clear that Flowey had taken root in the ceiling, the floor, and just about every wall of the cavern. Papyrus had already counted seventeen vines in all, heading directly toward his position. It was time for his training to pay off.

The first five were the fastest ones. Papyrus' magic flared again as he created five similar shields to the last, although they were much smaller. They blocked the attacks with pinpoint accuracy and then disappeared, leaving him to focus on the surprise attacks from the rear. He leapt high into the air, watching the three vines sail under him with mere inches to spare.

Four more approached from his right side. Finding them too close to make a shield, he summoned a long, white bone in his hand and spun it, catching them all and releasing his weapon, letting them fall harmlessly to the ground.

The final five vines were almost desperately trying to hit their target, as Papyrus landed again and faced them head on. Behind them, he could see Flowey's face, the face of something that was straining to control them so precisely. Papyrus put his plan into action.

His swung his right hand to the left, his magic causing a large white bone to smash into Flowey's right side. The force of the blow sent the flower reeling, and because of the force, Flowey's concentration had waned, forcing the last five vines to careen off to Papyrus' left side, harmlessly.

"I FORGIVE YOU."

The impressive display of martial ability had shattered Flowey's confidence. This just hurt.

"For what?!"

"FOR EVERYTHING. FOR HURTING ME, MY BROTHER, MY FRIENDS..."

Flowey shook his head. "I'll just do it again. And again. And again. And again..."

"FOR HURTING FRISK."

A sudden stop. Papyrus had struck a nerve, and they both knew it.

"Don't."

"THEN LET ME PASS," Papyrus said, turning his back on Flowey and toward the vine-blocked door.

"What for? Why are you even here in the first place?!"

"I'M LOOKING FOR SOMEONE."

"Well I'm right here! C'mon, we could play together, just like the good ol' days!"

"NO. I AM SORRY, FLOWEY, BUT I HAVE TO KEEP GOING. I HAVE TO GET TO THE VOID."

Utter defeat. Flowey was almost becoming used to the feeling of being completely powerless against something so...unbelievably strong. He'd lost to the child once...no, twice, no...many times. A human child thwarted his plans so easily, and now Papyrus? The bone-addled, boneheaded brother of Smiley Trashbag?

Wait. Flowey remembered once before. Papyrus mentioned that he defeated the human and trapped them in his shed, but...how? How could he have beaten Frisk when Flowey fought so hard to stop them and failed?

...And now he was _willingly_ throwing his life away to The Void?

"...Fine."

The vines began to wilt, drying up and falling lazily to the ground.

"...But I know what's going to happen next. Your brother will come through here, he has to. And when he does, I'll just play with him, instead!"

"I WOULDN'T RECOMMEND THAT."

Flowey sneered. "And why's that?"

"BECAUSE YOU'VE NEVER SEEN MY BROTHER FIGHT, ESPECIALLY FOR MY SAKE."

Red boots crunched on the dead foliage on the cavern floor, as Papyrus scooped up his bag and resumed his confident stride out of the chamber, leaving his former friend behind.

Alone.

It didn't hurt anymore.

* * *

"he...forgave you...? hah...that's...perfect."

Between choking gasps, Sans was laughing. He almost had to force it out, but the situation was just so unintentionally hilarious to him. This creature, this twisted fusion of nature and determination had caused everybody so much pain, and his brother just kept on being himself. Papyrus was always going to be Papyrus, regardless of the situation. It was his nature, after all.

"Are you...laughing at me?!"

"hah...hahah...yeah. yeah i'm...laughing at you."

"Oh, so I suppose you have a death wish, Chuckles? Because I'm definitely reconsidering my plans here!"

So much anger burned into Sans' wrists, ankles, and neck. He winced as they threatened to pull him apart, piece by piece.

"What, can't get your hands into your pockets to use your precious 'shortcuts'?"

The laughing continued, despite...everything.

"hah...did you...think that...i needed to put...my hands in my pockets...?"

His left eye flashed again, before Sans finally decided to try.

"Ooh, that's really scary. I bet that really terrifies Frisk, huh? I mean-"

Gone.

The five vines criss-crossed as they all fell softly to the cavern floor. Their captive had completely vanished, leaving Flowey utterly mystified.

"How?!"

"simple," Sans said, reappearing right behind Flowey. "you don't know anything about me."

The flower growled as he turned his head, sending another series of vines toward the skeleton. Sans gave a pitiful shrug as he warped slightly to the left.

"what, did you think i was really going to sit there and take it? i'm lazy, but i'm not stupid."

"Die!"

More vines, and more shortcuts. The two battled each other like some kind of violent, hateful dance, with Sans at the lead. Each shortcut led to another volley of vines, and yet another teleport caused the flower to re-launch a volley of already failed projectiles, only for them to miss their target for a second, then a third, then a fourth time.

"you know, if you stopped trying to kill me," Sans said, vanishing again.

"Shut up!"

Sans reappeared near the cavern's ceiling. "...maybe you'd be able to pay better attention to what's really going on."

More vines, another shortcut.

"What's 'going on' is that I'm going to tear you limb from limb! You have to get tired eventually!"

Poof.

"nah."

Poof. Another miss.

The vines were beginning to take up a great amount of space in the cave, amassing into one huge accumulation coming from the center, near the ceiling. Several knots had seemed to be causing a great amount of congestion, and even those knots were twisted into even more knots. The whole thing could be seen as one gigantic, twisted braid, attached to a single little golden flower.

Sans reappeared again near the exit to the cavern. It would have been easy to just walk away now, but...

"Trash...bag!"

One final vine flew toward Sans' skull.

SNAP.

The vine stopped just short of his eye-socket.

"heh, guess you're a little...tied up at the moment."

The bloated mass of vines wriggled and writhed, as Flowey's face twisted with the heavy labor of trying to move his body. Sans grabbed the nearby vine, the only free one Flowey had left, and pulled hard. He wrapped it around his left hand, and grabbed it with his right, bracing himself. With one good yank, the vine snapped off cleanly.

Flowey's eyes almost seemed to bulge as he howled from the pain. He hadn't felt anything like this ever since...that human. Frisk. They caused him so much pain before, and now this idiot was ruining everything.

The warped growth kept on struggling, its pulsations slowing more and more before coming to a complete stop. Flowey's face was awash with pain and humiliation.

Sans walked right up to the flower and leaned over, staring him right in the face.

"you forgot the _other_ rule of this world."

The light in his eye-sockets faded away.

"there is always somebody stronger."

"Just...do it then. End it. End all of this!"

"no."

"Why?!"

"it's like i said, frisk told me everything. asriel."

Critical hit. Flowey's face deadened. His voice was a defeated monotone.

"I...chose this name because I'm not Asriel anymore."

"yeah, but you are. kinda. look, what happened to you is pretty messed up. we all know the story, but becoming a flower? i can imagine it's not really pleasant. i bet it smells nice though."

"Heh...you get...used to it."

"i'm not going to kill you. frisk wouldn't forgive me if i did, capiche?"

"Stupid."

"if you say so," Sans stood up, turning to leave.

"Wait!"

The skeleton turned his head.

"Frisk...are they...happy?"

Sans put his hands into his pockets and gazed skyward.

"frisk has been through a lot. i'd like to think they are, but...well, it's going to take time."

"Then...you'd better not let them down."

"well, i guess we'll see, won't we? i gotta find my brother."

"The Void, right?"

"yeah."

He didn't know why he was even thinking of doing this.

"Sans...there's a door. By where your old waterfall sentry station is. It doesn't always...appear, but there's something weird beyond it. It's black, and gray...and really scary."

"no kidding? i always thought there was somethin' weird about that hallway. i'll check it out, thanks."

"...Yeah."

Sans gazed back at Flowey's pitiful condition. At this point, his adversary was completely immobilized, and if left here, doomed to a pitiful, helpless existence. All that determination to stay alive, just to remain here in this one cave for the rest of his eternal life.

He had no idea why he was even c _onsidering_ this.

The skeleton walked toward the mass of vines, and found the one single appendage that attached to Flowey himself.

"must've taken you a really long time to grow all these vines."

"Decades."

"well, i don't think i can leave you like this."

"What? You're going to..."

"yeah, well, you might not like it."

Sans wrapped the vine around his hand like before. He then made another loop around his other hand.

"Wait...wait, Sans!"

"brace yourself."

Sans twisted the vine and pulled his hands apart. The sickening sound of it tearing was masked only by Flowey's shrieks of agony as he planted himself back into the ground, tears rolling down his face. The tangled jungle above them, without the determination coursing through it, turned brown, and immediately began to crumble apart. They fell over the two like a flurry of dead plant matter, beginning to carpet the floor.

Flowey's screams stopped as he took deep, rapid breaths to offset the pain.

"you gonna be alright?"

"...Y...yeah, I...will be fine..." He hissed.

"good, because i have a bit of advice for you."

"Just...go..."

"the barrier's gone. nobody can reset anymore."

"Trash...bag..."

"so you're going to have to learn to deal with consequences. for real this time."

"You're...right. Again...dammit..."

"and with that in mind, maybe you should, i dunno, try to develop a sense of compassion, okay?"

"I...can't. I don't...have a...soul."

"but you do have a brain. i really find it hard to believe that somebody as smart as you can't just...figure it out, y'know?"

"No, you don't get it...I _can't_ feel it. Love...I can't feel it at all."

Sans sighed and turned to leave again.

"then maybe you should visit frisk sometime. i think they can help you learn how."

"That's...not..."

Sans was already gone.

"...not possible."

It smelled like pollen and painful acceptances.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: _I feel like this chapter is...lacking somehow, and it's buried in the back of my head. I can't put my finger on it, so if it does come to me, I'll probably edit it and let you guys know somehow._

 _And thank you for reading! I haven't really put any notes in this story yet, but I figured I should. You guys have been incredibly supportive, and I really appreciate that. :D_


	14. Diversions And Doorkeys

_You and I are here,  
underwater...  
Seconds are so dear,  
underwater...  
Searching for a light, to draw me closer...  
I hold my breath in tight, bring me closer...  
I feel your touch, will you pull me up again?_

-Vertical Horizon, "Underwater"

* * *

Papyrus had stopped counting his magical steps around the two-hundred mark. The sounds of Waterfall had been completely silent for nearly half an hour, meaning that at this rate, he'd traveled at least a mile forward by now, and there was no telling just how far _down_ he had gone.

He considered the math of it. each step was about six inches below the next, so even at two-hundred, that meant he'd traveled down more than one-hundred feet. In the darkness, it was hard to visualize just how distant that was, but he remembered Sans telling him once that some of the trees around Snowdin were fifty feet tall or more.

The skeleton gazed up toward the ceiling, searching for something, _anything_ to remind him of where he really was. The wishing stones' glow had been lost to darkness for a long time, but somehow, he could still feel them there. He was still in the Underground, for sure.

His skyward-gazing caused his balance to slip, his magic reacting instantaneously to make an extra step for him to stumble back onto.

"...CLOSE ONE," he sighed.

He shifted the duffel bag around his shoulder and corrected its weight, making sure it was in just the right spot to continue the journey. Another step appeared, and another red boot sank its heft upon it, and the cycle continued a few more times until...

The platforms stopped appearing.

Papyrus tilted his head, unable to comprehend why he couldn't make another platform appear just below this one. He summoned one more platform, and gently placed his bag upon it, and turned to focus on the darkness below.

"ALRIGHT, ONE MORE TIME."

The blue glow of his magic surrounded both of his hands as he pointed them out in front, knowing precisely where it was supposed to go.

Nothing. A spark of light, but still nothing.

He tried again. Another spark, but he couldn't see just what was blocking his magic from working. He focused so hard on creating more and more, trying to see just what was wrong, but out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of the bag beginning to roll.

"NO!"

He desperately shot his hand out, trying to catch the bag on another platform, but again, it was just an empty spark. He watched as the bag began to tumble into the abyss, watched as his plans doomed themselves to failure-

CLUNK.

The bag just sat there, illuminated by the magic it had accidentally rolled off of. It was resting on solid ground, the very bottom of the cavern that Papyrus was attempting to reach the entire time.

It smelled like lucky breaks and limestone.

Papyrus hung his head and shook it, chuckling at just how foolish he would have seemed. Of course the magic wouldn't appear there, he was trying to summon a platform into solid ground, and without the desire to accomplish something destructive, his magic lost to the cold earth itself.

He was here. He made it.

It hurt just a little bit less.

There was still a bit of mistrust fogging up his skull, however. The choking, inky darkness kept him from being able to see very far in front of his own face, even with the light of his magic. The floor still wasn't visible, and like a child dipping their toes into a pool, so did Papyrus test to see if there really was ground beneath his feet.

Finally, and with confidence, the red boots stepped off of his magic for the final time.

Even now, he was still wary, bouncing himself up and down on the ground to make sure it was real. He chuckled a small "NYEH-HEH-HEH," as he moved over toward his bag and unzipped it, inspecting the cargo inside.

"GOOD, IT'S NOT BROKEN."

He fished out the personal spotlight again, this time finding it to be far more effective in the field. He could finally see further ahead, and the cavern floor proved just how massive this place really was. He still couldn't find any signs of a wall or ceiling; he truly was in the middle of pretty much nowhere.

But...that sound...

He picked up his bag, zipped it shut, and shone the light toward where the sound was. It sounded like something was bubbling, and the surface of the floor began to appear more and more damp, as the scattered stones reflected the spotlights radiance. It made sense, he did follow the waterfall's direction as straight as he could.

Then he found it. The river from the waterfall flowed ever on. From here, it would either lead to an exit of the cave, or, as Papyrus hoped, The Void.

He still didn't know what to expect when it came to finding an "entrance." Every time he'd ever witnessed The Void was in his own dreams, in his own mind. Perhaps it wouldn't even look like that Grey place, but something told him otherwise. It felt so real, _Gaster_ felt so real, that there wasn't much room for doubt in his mind.

Papyrus trudged on, red boots clomping on stone. A brother adrift without his sibling, a son searching for a father he barely knew. In the dark, other strange sounds began to echo and stir. To one side, he heard the loud moaning of some kind of machinery or another, probably coming from The Core, or some other place he didn't really care for. On the other, he could hear the sound of something skittering by, this was by far the more distressing of the two. It would make sense for some kind of animal or another to reside down here. Bats, for one, were a common sight in the Underground, although they stayed away from the more civilized areas.

But there were always stories. Always stories of terrible monsters, who preyed upon other monsters in the dark. Sans had always told Papyrus that they were a load of crap, but the skeleton still found himself here, in the dark, and trapped alone with his own thoughts.

And the sounds.

Papyrus never was one to feel fear very often. As a child, sure, but thanks to his brother's support, and his own innate confidence, he was able to weather just about any storm that brewed up in his life.

Something stirred in his subconscious. Knowledge of the past. A memory, perhaps, forming in his mind. He walked forward, finding out that something was causing it to unfurl itself in front of his very eyes. His vision blurred, and after a few moments, came back into focus, almost like he were watching an old movie.

…

Snowdin. He was watching himself back at Snowdin, at the entrance to Waterfall. He faced his first human friend, Frisk, here, hoping to capture them. Papyrus watched his past self stand there, confidently, smiling as he waited patiently for his prey to arrive.

Frisk stepped in from out of the fog, but something was wrong. The human's face was completely covered by their shaggy brown hair as their head hung low. Their steps were heavy, and their arms swung lazily to the side, almost like they were lurching forward like a zombie.

The fog rolled up.

 _AM I...DREAMING THIS?_

"HALT, HUMAN!"

Frisk took a step forward.

"HEY, QUIT MOVING WHILE I'M TALKING TO YOU! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, HAVE SOME THINGS TO SAY."

 _THE HUMAN..._

"FIRST, YOU'RE A FREAKING WEIRDO! NOT ONLY DO YOU NOT LIKE PUZZLES, BUT THE WAY YOU SHAMBLE ABOUT FROM PLACE TO PLACE...THE WAY YOUR HANDS ARE ALWAYS COVERED IN DUSTY POWDER...IT FEELS...LIKE YOUR LIFE IS GOING DOWN A DANGEROUS PATH."

 _THEY'RE GOING TO..._

"HOWEVER! I, PAPYRUS, SEE GREAT POTENTIAL WITHIN YOU! EVERYONE CAN BE A GREAT PERSON IF THEY TRY! AND ME, I HARDLY HAVE TO TRY AT ALL! NYEH HEH HEH!"

 _GOING TO..._

The human took another step forward.

"HEY! QUIT MOVING! THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT I AM TALKING ABOUT!"

 _TO..._

"HUMAN! I THINK YOU ARE IN NEED OF GUIDANCE! SOMEONE NEEDS TO KEEP YOU ON THE STRAIGHT AND NARROW! BUT WORRY NOT, FOR I, PAPYRUS, WILL GLADLY BE YOUR FRIEND AND TUTOR! I WILL TURN YOUR LIFE RIGHT AROUND!"

The human took three long steps toward Papyrus.

 _...KILL ME._

"I SEE YOU ARE APPROACHING. ARE YOU OFFERING A HUG OF ACCEPTANCE? WOWIE! MY LESSONS ARE ALREADY WORKING!"

 _DON'T._

"I, PAPYRUS, WELCOME YOU WITH OPEN ARMS!"

 _PLEASE!_

His heart, no, his soul felt like it was rising up into his throat. He was about to watch his own death, something that nobody ever really experienced in their life. This fear was nothing like being afraid of the shadows lurking in the darkness, this was a fear of watching a dear friend...and watching himself...

Wait.

The human began to tremble in front of Papyrus' stoic confidence. That beaming skeletal smile didn't let up for even a second, those eyes giving off smiles of their own. Frisk looked up at Papyrus' face, as tears began to involuntarily stain their cheeks.

Frisk removed their "tough glove" and tossed it harshly toward the ground, and began to stomp on it.

"No! No no no no you can't make me do it! I can't do this, I can't do...this..."

A strange, black mass appeared to be pulling itself free from Frisk's body, coming out of their back. As the human began to sob uncontrollably, the shadow began to take shape, appearing almost exactly like Frisk, but more...sinister. A bright, glowing red heart shone underneath the swirling black mass, almost appearing as if it were imprisoned there. Even though the shadow had a brilliant, and creepy, red smile, its body language told Papyrus that it was sorely disappointed.

The Entity.

Wait...Papyrus could see this. Could his past self...?

"WOWIE! YOU DID IT! YOU DIDN'T DO A VIOLENCE!"

Guess not.

The viewer gazed on as his past self fell to his knees, embracing the sullen child. Frisk returned the hug in kind, burying their face deep into the chest-piece of Papyrus' "battle body."

"TO BE HONEST, I WAS A LITTLE AFRAID...BUT YOU'RE ALREADY BECOMING A GREAT PERSON!"

The crying continued. The Entity tapped its foot, annoyed, before walking away from the scene entirely.

"I'M SO PROUD I COULD...CRY..."

The skeleton wiped a tear from his eye sockets.

"WAIT...WASN'T I SUPPOSED TO CAPTURE YOU? WELL, FORGET IT! I JUST WANT YOU TO BE THE BEST PERSON YOU CAN BE!"

 _THIS...HAPPENED. I REMEMBER THIS. BUT...ACCORDING TO THE HUMAN, AND SANS, THEY REALLY DID GO ON TO..._

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I couldn't do it, I couldn't go through with..."

"SHH, HUMAN. YOU ARE SAFE. YOUR DECISIONS MAY NOT HAVE BEEN THE BEST, BUT...I CAN TELL. I CAN TELL THAT ISN'T WHO YOU REALLY ARE."

The two hugged each other tighter, as the chilly fog rolled in again, sweeping the scene away in one gentle stroke. The ever-watching skeleton found himself once again standing on the ground, holding a useless spotlight and, for the first time in minutes, he could feel the weight of the bag around his shoulder.

...but the water was gone.

The cavern floor was gone.

He was standing on something...gray.

Papyrus didn't know exactly how he'd found his way here. He didn't even think about it, but as that memory played on, he was constantly walking forward. He thought that it all took place in his own head.

How did he even get to this point? One moment he was following the water's trail, the next, musing on his own sense of fear. The last time he could remember feeling such fear triggered a memory, and...

...perhaps The Void summoned it, brought it to him.

Everything was gray now, as Papyrus stowed the floodlight back into his bag. The transition from reality to... _not_ reality was more seamless than he would have hoped. He figured there would be a door, or some sort of magical flourish, but not something this...instantaneous.

He marched on. He had no choice now, there was no going back.

"DOCTOR! DOCTOR GASTER?!"

The words felt as if they were stolen from his mouth, drifting into the distance.

"...DOCTOR!"

He felt the Void devour his words, almost as if they were incorrect. He had to figure out the password, unlock the code, solve the puzzle.

"...DAD?!"

CLANK.

The sound of something metal clanged in the far distance behind him. Papyrus spun around and squinted, gazing off deep into the horizon, before he spotted it.

It looked like...a chair.

* * *

It probably would have been easier to follow Papyrus' lead.

Sans stood in the familiar cavernous hallway, chuckling to himself as he came upon the telescope he'd left here. The one he said he normally charged to use, but let Frisk try it once for free. Frisk didn't even see the red paint when they pressed their eye up to it.

"oh man, that face they made...i don't even think they realized."

He ran a bony finger along the cold metal of the telescope for a second. He was coming up to his potential destination, if what Flowey said was correct, and he was beginning to hesitate. It would be easy to go right back to the garbage dump and try to enter the Abyss, but...he didn't really have any tricks up his sleeve to get down there. He could try to manipulate his own gravity to fall slowly, but not knowing how far down it was, he wasn't sure if he had the strength to keep it going long enough.

Okay. It was time to move into the next room. The hallway between them should be where the door was.

…

Nope.

He found himself in a small room, with a cracked magical crystal resting on top of a lonely table. He identified it immediately as one of the "save point" rooms he had shown to everybody only a day ago.

One day. It was hard to believe that all this was happening in the span of just one day. Had it even been twenty-four hours since he broke down crying into his brother's always-open arms? The sun was setting when he came in here, but that encounter with Flowey definitely stole precious seconds. And now he was here, chasing a mysterious door that he'd never seen.

But there was something about this hallway that he remembered. He always felt it was a bit strange, and that there were days when it really did seem to be much, much longer than he'd previously experienced.

"must've played it off as me being lazy, but...maybe."

He started to press his hands up against the rock wall and move sideways down the corridor, feeling around for some sort of missing piece, or maybe a hidden switch like in all those movies from the human world. He made it to the very center, and he could feel like there was an almost infinitely thin vertical line separating one half of the hallway from the other, almost like the rock walls were made up of slightly different geological makeups. One side's texture was different from the others, and right here, at this spot, was exactly where it changed.

There still wasn't any door.

"hmm."

He grabbed a nearby rock and drew a line in the floor where the "split" occurred, all the way across the corridor. Backtracking to the telescope, he watched as he got further and further away, making sure he could still clearly see the line.

"if i...teleport right in the middle..."

The calculations were trickier this time around. Normally, for Sans to use his teleportation ability, he had to think of his surroundings like a grid on a map. He was in one square, his destination in another, and it took a lot of concentration to make longer jumps to places he couldn't see. It's why he always appeared at the exact same spot at Frisk's school if he wanted to drop them off or pick them up. He had a lot of little..."home" points in his head. Safe spots to teleport to where objects or people tended not to be.

Papyrus was another anomaly when it came to these kinds of powers. His brother wasn't able to teleport himself directly, but his magic could appear from any direction he wanted it to. Sure, it was limited to his sight, or perhaps his other senses as well, but it still had a smaller range. However, if Papyrus could shift his magic around, then perhaps with enough time, training, and tutoring, he could master that as well.

Who was he kidding? Sans knew that Papyrus would get it in two days, tops.

He placed his hands in his pockets and took a deep breath.

" _What, can't get your hands into your pockets to use your precious 'shortcuts'?"_

Obviously, it wasn't the case that putting his hands in his pockets was the trick. No, he recognized it early on that it was a nervous habit of his. Whenever he found himself uncomfortable or even mildly stressed out, Sans would find some way to hide his hands. Before he had this perfectly-sized jacket, he remembered plenty of times when he'd hide them behind his back.

For a second, he wondered if Frisk had encountered this door. Being followed by an anomaly threw all bets off the table when it came to time-line shenanigans. Maybe Frisk had even visited the void in one of their many resets. Or maybe, somewhere out there, there was another _version_ of Frisk who had found their way in.

"focus," he said, shaking his skull.

He stared at the line again and re-calibrated the puzzles he had to solve. This wasn't a case of going from Map Point A to Map Point B. This was more like trying to land perfectly on the line between two "tiles," and he had to have everything just right. If it didn't work, he'd just find himself at the nearest "tile," but if it did...

The hands never left his pockets. After double-checking his work at least eight times, this was the moment to act. The magic in his left eye flared to life, flashing yellow and cyan, as he started the countdown.

"three..."

Flashing faster.

"two..."

Just think of it like swallowing a pill.

"one..."

He had to snap his fingers to jump-start the process.

…

Sans didn't even open his eyes before he knew that something was different. There was a strange odor in this place now, like the air was even _more_ stale than the Underground's less-than-stellar quality. He felt like he was being pulled in two directions, but at the same time, he could hold himself together just fine.

He opened his eyes and looked down, first. The line he drew, the one he expected, wasn't beneath his feet at all. In fact, the cavern floor beneath him was almost immaculate, one might even speculate that it was clean enough to eat off of. He looked to the left, and about twenty feet away, was a line crossing the entire corridor. To his right, an exact replica of this very same line.

He was "in-between."

In front of him, almost as anomalous as his current "position" was a door.

Just a simple, wooden door.

His bony hand slowly reached for the knob. Behind here was something "black, and gray, and really scary." Hopefully his brother was making it a bit more hospitable, but he doubted it.

He grasped the knob and turned. As he did so, he noticed that the space around the latch began to twist unconventionally, almost like reality was altering itself. He pulled on the door, the gap between it and the cave wall beginning to warp the fabric of reality itself. It proved to be too strong for the lazy skeleton, and he let go.

"alright. you forced my hand."

Sans' eye glowed again, his magic slowly forming a blue aura around the door's knob. More calculations in his head, changing physical equations to manipulate its gravity from downward, to outward. Then, all he had to do was increase it, exponentially, and...

In an instant, the door ripped wide open, and he could feel the real world start to contort. Something, behind this door, was pushing him away, but at the same time, drawing his body further in. It felt like he was exploding out into an implosion, and any attempt at a last-minute shortcut was sure to end in failure. He was the calm eye of the storm amidst a raging tornado of the change to space-time he had forced. If his, and Gaster's, theories were correct, it would all correct itself back to equilibrium in a matter of moments.

It felt like an eternity.

Sans collapsed to the ground, choosing to remain there for a moment to regain his sense of balance. The rocky floor of the cave was gone now, replaced by a strange, yet still solid, material that appeared to be...purple?

He stood up and looked behind him, finding that the cave was completely gone. There was no mysterious hallway, no drawn lines, no door to speak of.

Just darkness.

He was standing on a small platform, surrounded by darkness.

His hands returned to his pockets as his mind raced. He had no idea where he was, and he certainly didn't know how to go back now. He should've followed Papyrus, and now he was stuck in his _own_ version of The Abyss, not even knowing if he'd gotten to The Void at all.

"papyrus?!"

The platform was small, only about ten square feet, and strangely illuminated by an unseen source. Sans stuck one foot off the edge, feeling it tap against more solid ground that he was unable to actually see. He could walk there, it seemed, but it was so dark.

"...gaster?!"

Something in his chest seemed to react to the words. He felt as though his heart had skipped several beats, and he sharply gasped to get his vitals back in proper sync. He held a hand to where his heart would be, and the gears began to turn.

"...pap?"

Another skip. It felt like something was being pulled out of him.

"...doc?"

Even more skipped beats. Not that it would matter to him, he didn't really have a "heart" to stop.

"lil' bro?!"

Something was forming in front of him. The darkness began to lighten.

"dad?!"

It became gray.

A familiar fog began to roll in, and Sans recognized it immediately.

A lost memory.

It smelled like absolutely nothing at all.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: _So...this work week is going to be pretty rough on me, and as such, I tried to get a chapter out a bit early. However, it might be a bit until I can get another one out the door, simply because needing to rest is going to take priority. Probably won't take longer than a week, hopefully, but just getting that out there. Thanks for reading! :D_


	15. The Great Papyrus

_We're all lost...  
We're all found...  
We're all the same..._

 _Just one heart beats in us...  
With different names..._

-Vertical Horizon, "Inside"

* * *

Papyrus had to take a moment to make sure his mind wasn't playing any tricks on him.

This place, non-existence, The Void, could be anywhere, or _anything._ It could be nothing more than a mirage; an illusion cast by the viewer's desire and desperation. Papyrus wasn't exactly feeling desperate, however. He knew in his heart that his goal was in sight.

And he felt it. In his soul. That familiar heartbeat. Not the same as Sans. It felt older.

It had to be.

"DAD?!"

He nearly stumbled over nothing trying to get to the chair in the distance. He didn't even feel the weight of his bag as he sprinted toward the only landmark within this gray place. This was the place from his unbelievable dreams, and hope sat in the distance on four metal legs.

As he ran, he could feel that somehow the distance between him and his destination was closing faster than it should have, as if he were running as fast as the car he'd left at the foot of Mount Ebott. The closer he got, the faster he felt it closing in, and he could start to make out the details.

A figure sat in the chair. Tall, statuesque, and seemingly bored and lonely. A bony pair of fingers propped up his skull at the temples as he just gazed off into the endless nothing, a white lab coat draping behind the chair in an almost regal way. A badge hung off of his coat's left side, similar to the one he'd seen in Sans' belongings on laundry days.

"DAD! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT'S REALLY..."

The seated figure gasped, never expecting to hear its son's voice.

" **Pap...Papyrus?! What are you doing here?!"**

Something was standing behind the chair. A shadow, or...something resembling one. It more appeared to be like a swarm of insect-sized shadows. They flitted and buzzed around, accumulating into one grand, unsettling focus. The darkness writhed as its thousands of tiny pieces amalgamated into a familiar, and false shape.

A human. It almost looked like Frisk.

It smelled like a twisted mockery.

At its core, a bright-red, glowing heart both seemed to attract the shadows, and repel them. Like it were feeding off of them, but at the same time, they were taking something from it, like tendrils from some infernal, unearthly parasite. A terrible circulation of regret and determination.

Its face had only two features, both as bright and crimson as the soul it imprisoned. Two almost featureless eyes, dotted above a wide mouth. It sported an impish grin that told Papyrus that this...thing...had no ability to show mercy, perhaps lacking any true capacity for good.

But Papyrus wasn't one to give up so easily.

"YOU. YOU'RE THE ONE WHO CAUSED MY FRIENDS AND FAMILY...SO MUCH PAIN," he said, placing his bag on the ground next to the chair. He opened his arms widely. "BUT THAT DOES NOT MEAN YOU'RE A BAD PERSON! IT ONLY MEANS THAT YOU MADE BAD CHOICES. YOU CAN DO BETTER, I KNOW YOU CAN!"

" _Stupid."_

Papyrus sighed and shook his head. This thing wasn't at all like Frisk.

His voice lowered. There was something almost...heroic behind his words. There was true sincerity there, with each spoken fragment conveying an air of unexpected stoicism.

"HEAR ME, ENTITY."

He summoned a long white bone and pointed it at the abomination.

"I AM GIVING YOU ONLY ONE CHANCE. A CHANCE TO TRY AGAIN. A CHANCE TO START OVER. I SUGGEST YOU TAKE IT."

The Entity began to laugh. It sounded like an awful concoction of children and monsters, with a dash of the demonic for good measure. The glowing soul at its core pulsed with every word.

" _We can't ever go back. We have to keep going forward, into the real world. Into the human world."_

"AND YOU CAN, IF YOU ONLY ACCEPT MY OFFER."

" _No. The humans did this to us. They made us, created us out of fear, hatred, sorrow..."_

Papyrus outstretched the bone and raised his other hand like an expert fencer, bracing himself.

"THE HUMANS ARE NOT YOUR ENEMY. YOU ARE! YOU CAN STOP ALL OF THIS, GIVE UP YOUR FEARS, YOUR HATREDS, YOUR SORROWS. YOU JUST NEED...SOME GOOD FRIENDS TO HELP YOU."

That sinister red smile turned into a grimace.

" _You don't understand what you're up against! Once I eliminate you, and once your brother's memories slip away, this...shell of a monster will finally be mine to control. We will teach the humans the real meaning of despair. We will give them back everything they gave us a hundred-fold!"_

The skeleton's grip tightened as he loosened his wrists, preparing to riposte. He wouldn't need his words now.

" _With every human life, another soul. Every soul will give us power, and with that power, we will become as gods. Every human will fall, until our anger is satiated!"_

The shadow held out an arm. It sharpened to a point and stretched toward its target. It lunged toward Papyrus with dazzling speed, aiming straight for the center of his "battle body." The quick-thinking skeleton flicked his wrist, turning the bone downward to deflect the umbral tendril to the ground. He raised his "blade" again and slashed deeply into the center of its mass, severing it, and leaving it to dissipate into the ether.

The Entity grew its arm back and smiled again.

"I AM SORRY. IT SEEMS THAT I AM JUST NOT CAPABLE OF INSPIRING YOU TO BEING A BETTER PERSON...SHADOW...THING."

Another ghostly tentacle fired toward the skeleton, which was parried with ease. It then attacked with both its arms, splitting the shadowy appendages into several points in order to confuse Papyrus.

But he refused.

Raising his other hand, Papyrus flared his magic to life, as a lattice of glowing cyan bones constructed itself on his forearm, shifting into the form of a large shield.

For anybody else, a sudden shift in combat style would need more preparation, but Papyrus wasn't just anybody else. He slid his arm back, grabbing the handle he'd created on the inside of his new bulwark, and brought it to bear against his assailant. In a grand sweeping motion, he blocked several of the tendrils, only letting one slip through. He swung his other weapon downward, causing the errant tentacle to wrap around it. He then slammed the edge of his shield into the tendril, causing it to snap off cleanly.

Another volley, and another easily trounced by The Great Papyrus. In fact, the skeleton was finding it rather strange that it was so easy to defend himself. There were certainly emotions behind all these assaults. Papyrus could feel them ranging from desperation, to frustration, to rage, but all of them fell short when coming up against his ward.

Papyrus, of course, didn't really take to the offense himself. He had no reason to. This bothered the onlooker in the room.

" **Papyrus! You Have To Fight Back! You Can Not Let This Thing Win!"**

For a brief second, Papyrus' felt his pride being diminished. He turned toward Doctor Gaster, placing his armed hands on his hips.

"WORRY NOT, FATHER! I HAVE THINGS WELL IN..."

Bulls-eye.

" **Papyrus!"**

"...HAND?"

The Entity cackled as Papyrus looked down at his own chest. A dark tendril had made its way all the way through his spine and out the front, past his ribcage. The shock began to settle in, as he focused on just how this felt, as he'd never really been hurt this badly before.

Wait...yes he had. His memories told him that this was nowhere near the same feeling.

The tendril didn't even move, but strangely, there was no pain. There was no burning sensation, no force behind the stab. In fact, the only thing he could really feel was that the tentacle was rather...cold, and...tickled? Other than that, it felt almost like it was passing right through, like a ghost through a wall.

There was a familiar feeling deep within Papyrus' soul. It wasn't touched, no, but he could feel it react to his "wound." It felt like it was almost...nuzzling up to the tentacle lodged in his torso, like it was trying to console it somehow. This umbral appendage felt so...sad. So hopeless, so lost in its own despair. It wasn't alone, either. Hundreds, maybe _thousands_ of tiny pieces, all adrift in a sea of loneliness. That soul in the center...it might very well be the only thing keeping them around.

Papyrus' empathy began to shine.

The Entity stopped laughing.

It didn't hurt, and he knew that it never would. Never again.

Papyrus mustered his courage and began to slowly turn back toward The Entity, even with the tendril lodged in his chest. Looking down, he noticed that, as he turned his body, the tendril didn't change shape, position, or direction at all. When he was finally facing his adversary, the pointed end of the tentacle was sticking out of his _back_ instead.

" _How?! Why?!"_

Papyrus stepped to the side, letting the tendril phase right through, only to loosely "fall" out of his body to the ground.

"BECAUSE YOUR ATTACKS HAVE NO MEANING TO ME. YOU PREY ON YOUR TARGET'S FEARS, THEIR INSECURITIES!"

He held a gloved hand to his chest.

"I COULD FEEL IT...JUST THEN. ALL THAT SORROW YOU HAVE, ALL THAT PAIN. YOU'RE HURTING SO MUCH, THAT YOU WANT TO USE OTHER PEOPLE'S HURT AGAINST THEM. THAT'S THE ONLY REAL POWER YOU HAVE."

The Entity growled. It echoed.

"WHAT I FELT JUST THEN. THIS ISN'T WHAT YOU WANT! THIS ISN'T WHAT THAT...THAT POOR SOUL WANTS! YOU DON'T WANT TO DO THIS! YOU'RE TRAPPED IN THIS...THIS CYCLE OF PAIN. YOU CAUSE HURT BECAUSE YOU THINK YOU HAVE TO!"

The Entity pointed its arms again.

"BUT I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS..."

Another tendril fired and speared Papyrus in the chest.

Zero damage.

"...DO NOT HURT, ANYMORE!"

Another volley. Zero.

"I ENTERED THE VOID AND FOUND MY FATHER!"

Another. Zero.

"I DISCOVERED THAT I HAVE MORE FRIENDS WHO CARE ABOUT AND RESPECT ME, EVEN IF THEY NEVER SAID ANYTHING!"

Another zero.

"AND I BROKE THROUGH TO MY BROTHER! SANS...HE KNOWS HE DOES NOT HAVE TO HIDE ANYTHING, ANYMORE! I KNOW I CAN HELP HIM NOW!"

" _...Your brother. That's right! The one holding everyone back! ...He's here, too."_

"SANS IS HERE?!"

" **Sans Is Here?!"**

The Entity smiled again. Its form began to wriggle together and melt into the ground. It spread, wider and wider, almost reaching Papyrus' feet before it looked as if it were "seeping" into the floor. Or at least...whatever the "floor" consisted of in The Void. Soon enough, its mass seemed to just...fade away.

Papyrus dashed forward and dove, sliding on the "floor" of The Void. A red gloved hand managed to touch the shadow-enveloped soul before coming up completely empty.

"COME BACK HERE! WHERE IS SANS?!"

" **It's Gone, Papyrus. They Could Both Be Anywhere In The Void."**

"BUT...WHAT ARE WE SUPPOSED TO DO?! I HAVE TO FIND HIM!"

" **Don't, At Least, For Right Now. Sans Is...Doing Something Important, And He Must Not Be Interrupted."**

Papyrus tilted his head. "WHAT IS HE DOING?"

The doctor smiled and held his hand to his chest. A gentle light reflected off of his name-badge as he brought his hand out, with a heart-shaped beacon hovering above it. It appeared as if it were split cleanly down the middle, with the entire right side being slightly dimmer than the rest.

Gaster pointed at the darker half. **"Papyrus, This...This Is You."**

"ME?"

The doctor nodded.

Within the other half resided a perfectly circular hole. It appeared to be pulsing brilliantly, even more-so than Gaster's proper soul itself.

" **This Hole...This Is Sans."**

"IT'S GLOWING!"

" **That Is Because He Is Beginning To Remember."**

"YOU CAN...FEEL WHEN WE'RE REMEMBERING?"

" **Yes. I Could Actually See Your Memories, As Well. We're Connected In That Way. Soul-bound. And Here, In The Void, There Is Not That Much To...Distract Oneself."**

"AMAZING! ...SO...WHAT IS SANS...REMEMBERING?"

Gaster closed his eyes for a moment, and then his smile widened. A gentle, fatherly smile to a child he'd loved his entire life, even if he'd never been there to see it. The kind of smile that told Papyrus that his father really was here. He was real. He existed, even in this non-existence.

" **Papyrus, Would You Like To Know How You Were Born?"**

"SANS ALREADY TOLD ME. HE TOLD ME HE FOUND ME INSIDE THE WEIRD...SPACE-CRASH THING WHEN YOUR MACHINE..."

Gaster shook his head. That smile never wavered, but the chuckle was unexpected.

" **Sans...Forgot."**

Papyrus, sensing an incredible story, sat down immediately at his father's feet in a cross-legged position.

" **It Was When Sans Was About...Twelve Years Old..."**

* * *

A dream.

This was exactly like one of Sans' dreams.

But he was here. He was _right here!_

Everything was beginning to blur together as the fog began to overtake everything. There was no Void now, no empty space, just an unforgiving, enigmatic mist. It halted, almost as if it were waiting for something...or someone.

Sans stared at it for a moment, stared at the obscuration of the light, or what light there was. The fog had made this normally gray place even _grayer_ somehow, but there was something about it. It wasn't moving, wasn't giving away any of its secrets.

He would have to take them.

"okay. okay, i get it. i get it."

He took his hands out of his pockets, and clenched them into fists. A knot of dread tightened in his chest, causing him to swallow hard to hopefully remove the sensation. He gave a deep breath, and nodded to himself, taking a single step forward. Then another step, and another, each one less hesitant than the last.

For a second, he thought about just running in, like Papyrus would've done.

Too much work.

His short legs didn't have too far to walk before the landmarks began to show themselves again. More laboratory equipment, standard for The Core and its research department. He recognized several of the machines already, he even remembered the room. This was the room where Gaster tried to clone the human soul and make those...things.

There were only two glass tanks though, instead of four. In fact, compared to that memory, this one felt strangely empty, and dark. The red standby lights were the only things illuminating the room.

It was a perfect replica. Everything was in its place, and this told Sans that he truly was witnessing some sort of memory. No Entity could know just how everything was set up to Gaster's specifications, even if it spent years plaguing him.

He began to run his fingers along the consoles, tracing the bones in familiar patterns like he felt in his childhood. Up here, past this huge knob, and around the "be careful Sans, don't touch that one" switch. His fingers hopped to the nearby chair, and bounded all the way across to the other. Sans had to resist the temptation to make "superhero" noises as it sailed.

The door behind him clicked, then hissed as it slid open.

 _dad?!_

The words never came from his mouth, but they existed in his head. He knew the rules, he couldn't interact, he could only watch.

So he turned around...and watched. He hated it a little bit, just watching.

Sure enough, in walked the famous Doctor Gaster, holding a clipboard with hand that lacked their well-known holes. He reached to the side and flicked on the lights, shielding himself from the initial flash. Behind him, a young skeletal child wearing an almost impeccably tailored lab coat of his own.

" **Heh. In The Light, You Almost Look Like A Real Scientist, Sans."**

"you think so? I think it's cool, it looks like a cape!"

" **Well, I Suppose Science Can Create Its Fair Share Of Heroes,"** Gaster chuckled.

Sans watched as his younger self began to perfectly mimic his previous actions. Bony fingers running along the edges of the equipment, around the knob...

" **Be careful, Sans. Don't touch that one."**

 _...no way._

The child's fingers leaped toward the back of the chair, and then flew toward the other as the youngster made the noises that Sans had resisted making earlier. He almost regretted it...adults don't really get a chance to be children again.

 _i was really like that, huh? like pap when he was younger. i just...had to grow up fast i suppose. pap didn't deserve to lose that spark like i did. every time he said that he wanted to be a hero, to protect people...i could feel it. and you know what? he really is a hero, y'know? i couldn't just let that fade away, he deserved to be happy with...whatever he wanted to do._

" **You Remember What We're Going To Do Today?"**

The child stopped, and sighed.

"yeah. i just don't know why."

Now it was the doctor's turn to sigh.

" **You Remember How You Came To Be? That You Came From...A Fragment Of My Soul?"**

The younger Sans nodded.

" **Our Kind...Monsters Will Only Be Freed With The Power Of Seven Human Souls. We Have Six Of Them Now, But...Six Humans Had To Die In Order For Us To Get Them..."**

The hand holding the clipboard fell, hanging loosely to Gaster's side as he hung his head.

" **It's Not Right, Sans. There Has To Be A Better Way. A Way That Doesn't End In..."**

He could see that his son was becoming slightly upset, and corrected himself, pushing up his glasses.

" **Anyway, I Have Theorized That Perhaps...Human Souls Could Reproduce Themselves, If We Had The Proper Procedures In Place. To Do That...We Will First Have To...Test Those Procedures."**

"you mean you're going to try to...make another me?"

" **No...Not Another 'You,' But Yes, The Goal Is To Create Another Life From My Soul. If The Magics Run Their Natural Course, It Should Follow That Another Child Would Be Born, And..."**

"...why, though?!"

The doctor turned his back, to hide. To hurt.

" **Because Those Childrens' Blood Is, Essentially, On My Hands. It's...My Responsibility To Try To Break This Cycle Of Murder And Magic. We're Monsters, Sans. Creatures Of Compassion, Love, Kindness! How Can We Continue To Call Ourselves That If We Have To Murder Innocent People Just To Escape?!"**

"sorry dad, it's just that...you look like you're hiding something."

Critical hit. Even as a child, Sans was already showing his amazing ability to read people...and monsters.

" **Twelve Years Old And Already So Observant. Sans, You're Right. There's Something Else. You Know How I've Been Afraid Of...Falling Down?"**

"yeah."

Gaster sat down in the nearby chair, and slouched forward, resting his elbows on his knees and clasping his hands together.

" **It Never Went Away. It Never Does. Phobias Are...Controlling That Way. I Was...In A Darker Place Ever Since That Accident Occurred."**

"dad..."

" **When I First Woke Up, I Found Myself Wandering Around The Infirmary, Almost Like I Was Lost. Asgore Came In, And It Was As If There Was This...Brilliant Light, One That I Had Never Felt Before. A Beacon In The Dark. You. Asgore Didn't Even Say Anything, Except That I...Had A Son."**

Both versions of Sans watched his father give one of his gentle smiles.

" **Our Magical Essences Were...The Exact Same. Somehow, Fate Had Decided To Give Me A Child, And You, Sans, Have Been The Sole Reason I've Been Able To Carry On. Reading You Bedtime Stories, Teaching You Such Advanced Subjects...I'm So, So Proud Of You, Sans."**

"aw, c'mon..." The child said, grinning and rubbing the back of his neck.

Gaster stood and placed his hand on one of the glass tubes.

" **It's True. But...That Phobia Still Hasn't Left. I'm Afraid...Afraid Of Leaving You Alone, Sans. This Place, The Core, Is Safe For You, Everybody Knows You, But...I Know What It's Like To Be Alone Here. They Know You, But They Still Feel Like Strangers, Right?"**

"i...guess. the cafeteria lady's nice though!"

" **Hah, Yeah, She's Great, Huh? Sans...If You Don't Want To Help Me With This, I Can Understand..."**

"no way! i wanna help! i...think it'd be so cool to have a brother!"

 _kid...you have no idea._

Gaster wiped something off of his cheekbone, and placed his hands on his son's shoulders.

The older Sans felt it too.

" **Alright, Sans. This Tube Here, When Activated, Will Be Used To Supply My Body With Healing Magics, In Order To Keep Me From Falling. We've Actually Used This Once Before. Supposedly After My Accident, It Saved My Life. Since I'll Be In Here From The Start, The Danger Should Be Minimal."**

"okay, what do i do?"

Gaster clicked open the side of the glass tube and stepped inside.

" **Remember That Switch I Asked You Not To Press? Press It. The Process Should Be Completely Automated. The Magics Will Activate, And The...'Transfer' Will Begin. You'll Be Able To Monitor Its Progress On That Screen."**

"okay, i got it."

" **Oh, And Sans...I'll Be In Here For A Few Days. Do Make Sure You Eat Healthy, Alright? And If You Need Anything, Go And See Asgore, I've Already Told Him To Look After You While I'm...Indisposed. The Elevator Should Take You Right To His Home."**

"dad...?"

The glass tube slid shut with a satisfying "shink!"

" **Go Ahead. Press The Switch."**

The child pressed his hands against the tank holding his father, Gaster returning the favor, matching up his hands with his son's. The father nodded and smiled again, prompting the younger Sans to smile back and nod.

He looked at the switch with trepidation and excitement. A trembling hand rested on top of it for a moment.

 _do it. trust me, you'll be...so happy that you did._

The child pressed his other hand on top in order to force himself to proceed.

CLICK.

The sounds of science and engineering marvels began to fill the room. The low hum of power entering both tubes rumbled the floor. The soothing sounds of monitoring equipment blinking on and click-clacking gave both Sans a gratifying sensation in their skulls.

Gaster's tube filled with green light. The color of support magics, defensive in nature. Green magics were often used to protect monsters, but in this case, it was also the color of healing. Its powers would, essentially, soothe a monster's soul, bring it to a calm state, so that its natural healing energies would kick in and act stronger.

The doctor began to float in the air. He took a deep breath. **"It's...So Warm. So This Is What It Felt Like..."**

Gaster exhaled as his eyes began to close. The onlookers both imagined that he appeared to be drifting off to sleep.

One of the nearby monitors switched to an image of a white, glowing heart with a circular mark on its left side.

"-INITIATING TRANSFER-"

The younger Sans was glued to the screen, forcing the dreamer to shift around and look over his former self's shoulder. A shining brilliance slowly floated out from Doctor Gaster's chest, and was immediately taken through a sort of pipe at the top of his glass tube. It connected to the second, empty tube, and deposited the light inside.

It looked just like the video of Sans' own birth. The light began to grow very slowly, and the tube's power clicked on. The healing green magic began to fill this tube as well, almost as if it were cradling the soul fragment like a soft blanket.

On the monitor, the white heart showed a split, directly down the middle. The left side, with the circular marking, read "STABLE."

The right side read "CRITICAL."

 _...critical? but...that doesn't make sense, this should be safe, right? i can't...i can't wait around for this. i have to see more._

Almost as if it were reacting to his desire, Sans noticed that the clock started to turn at an alarmingly fast rate, almost as if everything were being fast-forwarded on an old VCR. He watched his younger self quickly pace around the laboratory, leave, come back with a plate of food, and just watch. Gaster floated in his blissful slumber, while the cocoon had finally grown to a fairly large size in the other tube.

Time went on. Days passed. Sans came and went, almost like a routine. Then...Sans left for the night, and something began to happen.

The magical cocoon began to pulse, faster and faster. It began to twist and contort, to "settle on a form," as it was commonly called in the Underground. Finally, the light flared into a brilliant show of life and love, blinding the still watching, older Sans.

...

When his eyes adjusted, Sans could tell that even more time had passed. Gaster was already out of his tube, his hands pressed against the other's surface.

Inside was a small, baby skeleton. It looked slightly larger than Sans did when he was born, and it certainly had features that resembled his father.

The laboratory door opened as the younger Sans stepped in.

"dad!"

The child dashed into his father's arms as Gaster scooped up his sun and hugged him tightly.

"your hands!"

Gaster held his child in one arm and held out his other, gazing at his hand. The center of both his hands now had large holes in them. **"Hmm. I Suppose This Is What I Lost, In Order To Finish The Procedure."**

"it's so freaky!" Sans said, poking a finger right through his father's hand. "does it hurt?"

" **No, It's Fine. It's Good To See You, Sans."**

"yeah, you too, dad."

They smiled at each other for a moment before turning their gaze on the skeleton in the tank. It was still unconscious, and its breathing seemed to be very, very shallow.

" **He's Been In Critical Condition For A Long Time. He Just Now Started To Breathe."**

"is that bad?"

" **Not Anymore, His Vitals Have Stabilized. But Before...He Was So Weak. His Body's Magic Was Fragile, Like...An Ancient Piece Of Papyrus."**

 _...that's right._

"is...papyrus going to be okay?"

" **That's Not His Name...Is It?"**

"i think it sounds cool."

" **Well Then, Papyrus It Is. I Think...I Think That We May Have Just Witnessed The Power Of Determination."**

"i've heard that word around the lab before."

" **Determination? Yes, It's A Theoretical Power That Souls Have To...Resist Death. Papyrus, Here, Was So Frail, But He Held On. He Kept Living, Despite...Everything. In Fact, It May Have Been My Determination In The First Place. Incredible."**

Gaster put his sun down, and began to check the monitoring equipment when something gurgled under his lab coat.

"dad...you haven't eaten yet?"

" **I...Suppose Not. Whoops. C'mon, Let's Get Something To Eat, Then We'll Come Back And Check On Your Brother."**

"man...that's so...so cool!"

" **What?"**

"that i have a brother!"

Gaster laughed as he led his son out of the lab, turning back at the tube one more time. He smiled at his second son, and continued to accompany the child, out the door, and out of the memory.

...

The memory began to slowly drift out of view, the fog finally lifting, leaving Sans alone in The Void again.

He was smiling, too.

"i...i can't believe i forgot. pap...pap i'm sorry, i just..."

A few tears trickled out of his eyesockets. He wiped them with the sleeve of his jacket.

"but i remember now. i remember everything. i have them back! my memories...they're here! papyrus...papyrus where are you?! i have to tell you!"

The skeleton could feel that something was stirring behind him. behind him. Something that felt dark, twisted, and horrible. It rose from the floor, its captured soul beating like a terrible beacon. It shifted and swarmed, as its terrible form finally came into a kind of...focus.

Sans didn't stop smiling as he turned around.

"hiya, pal. 'bout time you showed up."

It smelled like The Entity wanted to have a bad time.

* * *

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE** : _I feel really good about this chapter._

 _Also, I want to express my thanks for all the awesome comments I've gotten, both about the story itself, and about concern for my need to rest. The week wasn't as bad as I thought, it was just a constant shifting of shift times that really threw off my sleep schedule._

 _But anyways, you guys are so awesome and supportive! I feel so...lucky! Thank you! We'll get to the end, together!_


	16. sans

_It's so endearing how you thought you could change...  
We know you'll be happy,  
You just need someone to blame..._

 _Welcome back,  
We're glad you know your place.  
It's always there for you..._

 _Welcome to the moment,  
To the highlight of your life...  
Welcome to the horror,  
And there's no where you can hide..._

 _Welcome to the bottom._

-Vertical Horizon, "Welcome To The Bottom"

* * *

Sans placed his hands in his pockets and met his adversary with his favorite smile.

He'd been down this road before, his returning memories making sure to remind him of that. Except this time, he was facing the shadow of the human he'd killed so many times before. He hated this thing for even _thinking_ of making itself look like Frisk. Frisk was nothing like this...this forgery.

He gave a shrug. "so...i guess there's no real way to stop you from doing this, huh?"

The Entity just smiled. Crimson light shining from a blackened face.

"i just wanna know why. why cause everybody so much pain, when you could just...i dunno, not?"

" _You don't understand what pain is!"_

"try me. you should know just how much i know about pain. you caused those resets. you used frisk's determination to trap them here in the underground, to keep us all locked up in our timeline! i had to watch as events played out, again and again, until the human began to change their methods."

He tried a very light attack, just one single bone flying toward The Entity. Its shadowy form bounded over it with ease. It landed, and gave Sans a twisted sneer.

"...that's _your_ fault, isn't it? whispering in frisk's ear, like you did to my dad. trying to play on their fears, keep them controlled, until they were putty in your hands. dad didn't have the chance to fully give in to you, but frisk did. they let you control them, to go on to kill undyne, alphys, my brother, even me!"

The microscopic shadows that constituted The Entity began to vibrate harder, warning Sans of imminent attack. A dark arm was raised, firing a long, sharp spike in his direction. Sans wondered if Papyrus would have a problem dodging the attack, but then realized that no, Papyrus would've blocked it head on.

He, however, decided on a shortcut, appearing behind The Entity, giving another shrug.

"i was sad, for so long! i watched my entire life just reset over and over again, and when i couldn't figure out what was causing it, i just...gave up. do you know what that feels like? to watch your brother worry about you like you had become a completely different person?!"

Two tendrils fired at him this time. He fired a cyan-colored magical bone to block one, while he warped himself away from the other.

"if he remembered the resets, it might've been different. maybe he'd understand better. but no...papyrus watched as i suddenly went from being slightly lazy to...this terrible, depressed wreck of a skeleton. it drove him crazy!"

Sans took the lead this time, firing an array of about seven or eight bones, all with sharpened points, all bound for the soul in the center of the shadow's chest. He knew it was futile, but he felt he had to buy time. He had to keep this thing away from his brother at all costs.

"i really wonder if he hated it...hated me. i spent so much time at grillby's, i barely slept, and when i did, it was when i was supposed to be on duty. i let him down so many times, and in the end, he had to start taking care of _me!_ papyrus was my responsibility and he had to start watching over me like i was a child!"

The Entity fired another round of tendrils again, and the skeleton dodged them with ease. He watched his foe very closely, namely keeping an cyan-blazed eye the soul housed in its breast. The small shadows that created the dark attack in the first place, he watched as they returned deep within the Entity's chest, floating around the soul before returning to their original position. They swarmed around it like moths to an unquenchable flame, fluttering to take...something from it.

Determination. These shadows were taking the soul's determination, using it to maintain themselves.

"it wasn't fair! it wasn't fair to papyrus, to have his dreams, his hopes held back because of a brother who couldn't bring himself to keep going on! it wasn't fair to drag him down like the dead weight i had become!"

Sans didn't wait for another attack this time. He raised a bony hand and snapped his fingers, as the imprisoned soul turned a deep shade of blue. His gravity-shifting magics had taken hold, and Sans didn't hesitate to decide on a direction in which to send it flying.

He pulled his hand in, toward himself, causing The Entity to sail in his direction. He outstretched his his arm as the soul came into his reach, attempting to catch a decent grasp on it. If he could do that, get it away from this...thing...he might be able to stand a decent chance.

He didn't get the opportunity. Once his hand entered the swirling mass of shadows, his mind was beset by hundreds, if not thousands of painful experiences. All of them following the same theme, all of them just as painful and hopeless as the last.

 _Did you hear? the prince, he..._

 _I know, it's horrible! And on the same night the human child died, too!_

It smelled like golden flowers.

 _We can't go on like this! We've lost so much!_

It smelled like the Abyss, opening its maw to welcome any monster willing to give in.

 _How are we supposed to keep on living? We'll never see the sun, never smell the fresh air again!_

It smelled like snow and stagnation.

 _The king is so sad, and the queen..._

It smelled like grief for lost loved ones.

 _The humans did this. They took everything we had from us!_

It smelled like arrows, spears, and unease.

 _Asriel didn't deserve that, he just wanted..._

It smelled like white fur, crumbling into powder.

 _The king's about to speak, I wonder if he's going to talk about his son..._

It smelled like a dusty New Home.

 _We're never going to escape the Barrier._

It smelled like isolation.

 _War...with the humans? Could we really win?_

It smelled like a rallying cry for hope.

 _Asgore's right! We have to keep up hope! We can't just let this despair run our lives!_

It smelled like true feelings being suppressed, and tossed away.

 _King Asgore will let us go!_

It smelled like everybody ignoring their sorrow.

 _King Asgore will set us free!_

It smelled like hope overpowering despair.

 _King Asgore will save us all!_

It smelled like hopelessness being completely forgotten.

Sans let loose a sharp gasp as he jerked his arm out of The Entity's body, using his still-active powers to push the soul hard, sending it crashing to the ground about fifty feet away. He stared at both of his hands as they started to tremble.

All that pain, all that sorrow...every single one of those tiny shadows was a fragment of somebody's lost emotions. An entire civilization's misery orbiting around a soul, holding it hostage, feeding off of it, taking from it. What was it giving the soul in return? Who did that soul even _belong_ to?

Suddenly, Sans realized.

"th-that soul...that's _their_ soul, isn't it?!"

The Entity slowly rose to its feet.

" _This soul...is ours. It doesn't belong to anyone!"_

"that's not true! it belongs to the first...the first human, right?! the one that prince asriel found in the ruins!"

The Entity gave a wicked grin.

" _Who's to say it doesn't belong to Frisk?"_

The skeleton's eyes shot wide open. He hadn't considered this possibility. It frightened him to his very core. The human he cared about so much, the one he loved like an older brother, or perhaps like a parent to a child. It couldn't be. It just wouldn't be fair, this world wouldn't allow such a travesty to happen!

...Wait.

No. That's wrong. It's wrong. He knew it was. He just had to collect his thoughts, restructure his memories into something cohesive.

Frisk told him everything about that fateful day at the barrier. Frisk told him all of their secrets, not even wishing to tell anybody else. Frisk faced these dangers by themselves and overcame these adversities. Frisk fell silent on the surface because of their overwhelming guilt. Frisk opened up to Sans and Papyrus because Frisk knew the brothers really did love them.

Frisk loved them so much. Sans knew that. Sans knew that Papyrus knew that. Sans knew that Frisk knew that they all knew.

There was love, not LOVE, in Frisk's heart. Their soul...the very culmination of their being...that existed. It was real. It wasn't in The Void.

It wasn't here.

"don't."

The light in his eyes blacked out.

"don't you dare talk about frisk like that. you don't know a thing about them."

" _We spent enough time with Frisk to know just about everything there is to know."_

Sans blinked away, appearing to the side of The Entity, firing another volley of sharpened bones. Another shortcut brought him behind, letting loose another salvo. Another teleportation to the front led to another burst, followed by a snap of his fingers.

The soul had turned blue once again, but Sans didn't choose a direction this time. He focused on keeping his target rooted to the ground, smiling as The Entity was skewered by countless magics. Many of them passed through harmlessly, but a few had managed to strike the soul housed within.

"you know that frisk was afraid. you know that frisk didn't really want to go back to the home they'd run away from. that's all you knew."

Determination caused the red, glowing heart to beat. The shadows writhed even tighter around it.

"you knew that frisk felt trapped. you knew that frisk didn't have a choice but to trust you."

Those blackened eyes showed no remorse. The skeleton used some of the dirtiest tricks in his arsenal, teleporting several times to fire his magic towards The Entity from an almost impossible number of locations. He didn't activate his gravity powers this time, watching as the human mockery tried its best to dodge all of the missiles headed its way.

There certainly was something graceful in its terrible movements. Sans could recognize just how much of Frisk had rubbed off on this thing as it bounded to and fro, shifting its weight just enough to miss another wound to its soul. It spun on its heels, turning to face the skeleton as it teleported behind it. It expected another volley, but Sans merely shrugged and teleported away. A feint, only to distract it from a final attack that speared it at its very core, before the magics faded again.

The creature rose back to its feet again. There was far too much LOVE for Sans to take it down with such meager attacks. It turned toward him and smiled.

" _Frisk_ did _trust me."_

The truth struck a chord, and it stung. Sans was fully aware of what Frisk had told him in the park, that Frisk had given in to this thing's demands, let it take over their body, let it control them. This thing was what he fought in that golden hallway. This thing wanted to destroy the entire world, delete everything behind The Barrier.

This thing wanted to end all life on Earth.

Sans refused.

"maybe they did," Sans said, placing his hands back into his pockets, "but they shouldn't have. even if you did end up helping them learn about this world, about our home, about...everything, i know we could have done the same thing, without you!"

He raised his arms as his magics came into a crystal-clear focus, concentrating into a singular focal point at the end of his fingertips. Two structures made of bone began to form around his hands, taking the shape of large animal-like skulls with their maws gaping wide open. Sans had always known about this attack, but he only recently remembered where he learned it from.

His father, Doctor Gaster, taught it to him when he was a child.

He always wondered where he got the name "Gaster blaster" from. How fitting, he'd subconsciously made a pun. He had to fight the urge to laugh at the absurdity.

A powerful accumulation of searing energy collected in the skulls' mouths, pulling more and even more from the depths of Sans' very soul. He could feel them becoming empowered by his hopes, his dreams.

His love for his brother.

The Entity decided to stop waiting around, and charged forward with blinding speed. Its right arm had formed into a kind of scythe-like blade, seeking the skeleton's fragile neck.

" _You can't defeat us! You're not strong enough!"_

Sans cocked his head to the side and smiled.

"nope."

The shadowy edge swung hard, with the hatred that Sans knew it was capable of. It was a deep, heavy stroke, comprised of as much LOVE as he'd always remembered.

Good thing he didn't stick around.

Another shortcut sent him hovering about twenty feet above his enemy, still directing his magic into the skulls, which had grown to entirely envelop his arms. Their mouths had reached maximum capacity, as Sans prepared himself to bring this terrible power to bear down on his foe.

In a glorious, cataclysmic release, his blasters fired on their target, showering two beams of pure, white, magical destruction on the shadow below. The force was enough to keep Sans airborne during the assault, his eye's cyan magics flaring up once more.

The eye that Frisk was always afraid of. He'd hoped that The Entity felt the same.

...Not that it could see it right now anyway.

Pure, unfiltered magical force slammed into The Entity, forcing it to flatten into the ground. Sans kept on pushing for more, before it had reached its absolute limit, tapering off as the skull vanished from his arms. He took one more shortcut, and landed on the ground, a bead of sweat beginning to form on his brow.

The shadow laid on the floor, face down, and started to laugh.

" _You're holding back, just like you did back then."_

He would never admit it out loud to this...thing, but it was actually right. Whoever that soul was, Sans could tell it was the prisoner, not the jailor. These shadows, these fragmented emotions were taking from the soul, stealing its power to keep itself alive. They were draining it of its determination, all to keep whatever sinister plan it had from crumbling to dust.

Sans held his arms out again, and quickly charged the blasters this time to fire on the unsuspecting opponent. It was a smaller beam, but faster, sending The Entity sliding further back along the floor.

Another shortcut, and another blinding-white beam.

More sweat on his forehead. His breathing became heavier.

He didn't relent. He didn't have the luxury to let up on his opponent now. He just had to buy time. For what, he didn't know, but he had to just...buy time until some opportunity presented itself. He was stuck here, in The Void, with this thing, and still didn't know whether or not Papyrus had even made it here at all. His memories had returned, he wasn't going to give up on his dream of telling his brother everything now. Maybe Gaster would intervene, save him at the last moment?

Maybe he had to just keep going, keep fighting, until...

The power fizzled out.

Something was wrong. His magic, while still holding him together, wasn't coming out of his soul anymore. He struggled to fling even a single white bone at his target, plinking it in the side of its head as it began to rise from the ground. He snapped his fingers, but the soul still burned as red as ever.

He'd given too much. The entity began to smile again.

" _Just like last time. Do you remember what Frisk did?"_

He fought to keep the painful memory from clouding his mind. The memory of a deep gash across his ribcage, made only more hurtful by the knowledge that his friend was the one who'd struck the blow. No, he had to focus on the here and now.

His theoretical lungs burned as he gasped for air. He began to stumble away from the dark forgery, clutching his chest. Every single bone in his body was beginning to hurt. Sweat poured from every orifice. He gave his all, and finally collapsed to his hands and his knees.

"...dammit..."

The Entity just stopped and began to laugh.

He desperately started to crawl with what strength he had left. He just had to keep buying time. This thing wasn't moving, no, but it would only take one attack to definitely take him out. He tried to calm his breathing, just enough to recover the energy he'd need for a last-minute teleport.

He managed to collect it, but after that, then what? It would take so long to get it back again.

"pap...i'm sorry, but...i guess this is..."

Something glinted and caught his eye, something hanging off his neck, that dangled in front of his face.

He never took it off. He never lost it, so he would never lose _him._

A silver whistle.

* * *

"SO THAT'S WHERE I CAME FROM. SANS..."

" **Yes, He Even Named You! Well, I Suppose I Said 'Papyrus' First, But He Wouldn't Stop Calling You That, So..."**

"OH, I LIKE MY NAME! POPULAR! PRESTIGIOUS! POWERFUL! THAT'S PAPYRUS!"

Gaster laughed. It was the first time Papyrus had heard his father guffaw in his entire life.

" **Papyrus...I'm So Glad I Was Able To See You Again, But..."**

"BUT...WHAT?"

" **It's Just That...Well, You Really Should Not Have Come Here. It's Too Dangerous."**

Something twinged in Papyrus' chest. He placed his hand over his "heart," and looked down and to the side, giving a deeply concerned look.

"SANS...DAD, WE SHOULD TRY TO GO FIND HIM."

" **Papyrus, That May Be Impossible..."**

The battle-bodied skeleton scooped up his duffel bag and slung it over his shoulder, holding a kind hand out to his father.

"WE SHOULD TRY. DAD...WE HAVE TO TRY, OKAY?"

Gaster looked at his son's red-gloved hand, then at his face, and nodded. He clasped Papyrus' hand, and with his help, stood up and adjusted the collar of his lab coat. He still towered a good foot and a half above his son's head. He placed a trusting hand on his child's shoulder. He believed, and Papyrus could feel that.

" **Lead The Way."**

Papyrus nodded, taking the first step into the unknown. His progress was halted by another deep, disconcerting tremor that washed over his soul. It felt like something was being stolen from him, something being...drained.

"SANS!" He gasped.

He focused on the sensation, hoping that it would tell him something about his brother's location. It was futile, it felt like it was being pulled on from the inside, like it was trying to implode itself. Papyrus' breathing began to grow heavy as he tried to collect his resolve and keep moving.

His head snapped up when he heard something. Its shrill noise rattled his skull.

A whistle.

A shaking hand frantically reached into the neck of his cape, pulling out his own whistle.

It smelled like Sans.

It was the only smell he ever needed.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

 _This is my first real attempt at a prolonged fight scene, and I'm really hoping I did a somewhat decent job. I really feel like I took a lot of dirty shortcuts on the way there, it was...difficult._

 _The scene kinda fell out of my head easily enough, just the description was a struggle. Thanks for reading! We're just about there!_


	17. Determination

_I need you to hear me,  
I want you to feel this,  
It should be clear as fear and plain as day..._

 _I'm not going to bend now,  
You're not going to break me,  
You'll never be hard enough to scratch my face..._

-Vertical Horizon, "All Is Said And Done"

* * *

A gentle, fatherly hand rested on Papyrus' shoulder, his cape's familiar material pleasing his fingertips. It was dyed a flamboyant shade of red, but there was no mistaking its texture. Fully cotton, lightweight but still breathable, he recognized its design immediately.

It was made from an old lab coat.

Sans.

" **Papyrus...What Was That? A Whistle?"**

"YEAH. IT'S SANS! SANS AND I BOTH HAVE ONE IN CASE WE GET LOST! BUT I CAN'T TELL WHERE IT'S COMING FROM!"

" **Alright, Breathe. Focus. Listen."**

Papyrus stared intently at the whistle, concentrating on the sound he always knew it made. A high-pitched, rattling tweet that pierced the eardrums, or at least, whatever skeletons had in their place. His eyes traced around the orange lanyard draping to his neck, then over to the other side and back to the instrument. He just needed another one. Just one more to go on before...

There it was! It seemed so distant, so lonely. The sound felt like it was coming from everywhere at once. Of course, nothing was that easy in this place.

"I CAN'T...I CAN'T TELL!" Papyrus gasped, his head twisting around in several directions to try to get a bead on its location.

Gaster stepped in front of his son and put his other hand on Papyrus' empty shoulder.

" **Okay, Son. It's Okay. Relax. I Have An Idea. It...Might Not Work."**

"WHAT ARE YOU SAYING? OF COURSE IT WILL! IT HAS TO!"

His son was nothing but a beacon of confidence. He believed in everybody so easily. Hard to believe he missed out on so many years.

" **Alright. Papyrus, This Place...The Void...Living Creatures Are Not Meant To Be Here, Just Energy. Because Of That, It...Reacts To Stimuli. Like It Wants To Accommodate."**

"ACCOMODATE?"

" **Yes. Desire, Papyrus. It Reacts To Desire, If It Is Strong Enough. That's How You Found Me, Isn't It? You Wanted To Find Me?"**

"I REMEMBER...WATCHING A MEMORY, THEN FINDING MYSELF HERE. I CALLED YOUR NAME, BUT...IT DIDN'T WORK RIGHT AWAY."

" **So...What Worked?"**

"I THINK...IT WAS BECAUSE I CALLED YOU 'DAD'."

One word. A benign combination of just two letters, arranged just right in a three-letter pattern, that meant an entire universe to hear. They weren't just The Great Papyrus and Doctor Gaster. They were father and son. Together. Separated from one more person. The missing link.

Gaster's analytical mind began to come to a singular focus, deducing just how to get to his other son. All the variables were there, and now it was a matter of reducing the outcomes. For a moment, he felt exhilarated, he hadn't done this kind of thinking in so many years, he'd begun to worry that his skills were beginning to rust.

His name didn't work, but his "title" did. For Papyrus, the word "dad" meant something very special.

" **Papyrus, You Have To Think Of Anything That Means Something Very Special To You And Sans. Something That You Both Know, Something Your Hearts Would Respond To."**

The skeleton already knew what it was. He was already holding it in his hand.

"DAD...STICK CLOSE TO ME. IF THIS WORKS..."

Gaster kept one hand on Papyrus' shoulder, giving him a stern nod. Papyrus brought the whistle up, clamping it in between his teeth. He pinched the sides of his mouth with his hand to maximize the airflow, taking a deep breath.

This had to work.

It smelled like all his hopes were riding on this.

* * *

More time.

Sans had to somehow buy more time. Keep this thing away from his brother and his father. Keep it from getting out. If anything, he knew Papyrus could beat it. He just knew.

His breathing was so heavy, as he crawled on the ground on his hands and bony knees.

He felt his magics stirring within him. He had just enough to either fire one more blast, or just teleport away entirely. Attacking wasn't an option, but where exactly would he warp to? The Void wasn't really a place with a lot of landmarks.

He just wanted to teleport into his brother's arms.

Sans closed his mouth around the whistle again, letting loose a desperate shriek out into the nothing. He just had to hear something, anything. It was his last chance.

For some reason, The Entity found it amusing.

" _Pathetic. What are you, a child?!"_

He spit the whistle out of his mouth. "n-nah...i thought that was you. that soul, y'know? heh..."

Sans didn't bother to look back. He could hear the shadows begin to move. An attack was being prepared, its form was changing for one final plunge. He had to take this shot. Now or never.

…

A high-pitched noise reverberated in the distance. The Entity stopped dead in its tracks, tilting its nearly formless head.

"a...whistle?!" Sans shot his head up. "papyrus!"

He crammed the instrument back into his mouth and blew again. After the noise pierced through, The Void began to feel different. It stirred. Energies were moving in and out, orbiting and breaking out of orbit, pulling and pushing. Gravity was heavier, but then it lightened, then it balanced itself.

The Void was _shifting._

The noise came closer. It was actually _closer!_ Papyrus! It had to be Papyrus!

It was _always_ Papyrus!

Sans blew into the whistle again, keeping an ear out for the adversary behind him. If this place was acting like before, maybe just _wanting_ his brother would be enough. He wanted to call out, cry out for help, but no. This whistle...that's what it was meant for all along. A tiny piece of silver, a shining ray of hope.

He waited for the response. He could still feel things moving around, his position in relative space changing, somehow.

But nobody came. The Entity smiled.

"-AAAANS!"

The dark mockery knew it had to strike now. Its arm formed into a razor-sharp tendril and fired at the exhausted skeleton, aiming straight for his torso.

Sans knew it was coming. It was only a matter of time.

He turned toward his attacker, giving them a sly wink before vanishing from sight.

When he reappeared, he was as far away from The Entity as he could get, horizontally as well as vertically. About thirty feet in the "air," he gave a deep sigh, acknowledging that he'd used up just about all the magic he had left. It was a last-ditch attempt, a gamble, but that voice told him he was about to hit the jackpot. He placed a lot of trust in his ability to expertly calculate his odds in these kinds of situations, but he still braced himself for impact. It wouldn't be long before he'd hit the ground...

...except he landed in the bony arms of a very boisterous skeleton.

It smelled like bones. He couldn't believe it, but it smelled like bones!

Sans looked up, clinging to his brother almost like a koala.

"THERE YOU ARE," Papyrus smiled, tilting his head. "...LAZYBONES."

"s...sorry, kinda kept you...waiting, huh?" Sans huffed.

"IT'S ALRIGHT. I SHOULDN'T HAVE GONE AHEAD. I SHOULD HAVE WAITED FOR YOU."

"yeah well...i would've...tried to stop you, but...i guess i would've just ended up taggin' along, huh?"

"YEAH."

The brothers snuggled tighter, Sans digging his skull into Papyrus' chest. Overlapping, parallel memories sparked in his mind. Memories of being carried to and from his sentry station. Being lugged out of Grillby's after particularly long ketchup sprees.

Papyrus. Even now, Sans could feel his brother's magic resonate with his own. Their hearts beating together, crafting a perfect rhythm of familial love and understanding. It began to soothe Sans' weariness, almost as if Papyrus were giving him his magic. His breathing normalized as his metaphysical lungs began to relax. His bones no longer ached.

"JUST A LITTLE MORE. HOLD STILL."

"huh?"

He didn't think it was literally happening. Focusing a bit more, he could feel Papyrus' magic flowing into himself, invigorating him. Restoring him. His soul felt like it was so full it was about to burst, until the channel slowed to a stop. Papyrus exhaled deeply, and put his brother back down.

"HOW DO YOU FEEL?"

"great, pap, but...did you...?"

"OF COURSE! UNDYNE SAID IT HERSELF. I'M A 'BOTTOMLESS WELL,' RIGHT? AND YOU WERE SO...TIRED, I HAD TO DO SOMETHING. SO I GAVE YOU A LITTLE PICK-ME-UP!"

"heh. you really are the coolest, bro."

"I KNOW!"

Sans walked over to The Void's third guest, shoving his hands into his pockets.

"...hey dad. how's it goin'?"

" **Sans..."** Doctor Gaster replied. He knelt down, placing his hands on his son's shoulders for a moment, before pulling him in for an unexpected embrace. It surprised Sans, holding stern for a moment before taking his hands out of his pockets to return the gesture. Over a decade of lost, futile emotions began to swell within the both of them, Gaster's pride in his children overpowering them all.

" **You're here. You're...both here and...you're real! I can feel you! I can...I...Oh Sans...Papyrus..."** he said, a tear beginning to roll down into the crack below his left eye.

Papyrus wiped his eyesocket, turning away to face a recently forgotten problem.

"IF YOU ARE PLANNING TO INTERRUPT, I SUGGEST YOU DON'T. WE'RE HAVING A MOMENT HERE."

The skeleton stood firm, his gaze now focused on the shadowy, false figure that had never truly left. The Entity almost appeared to be angry, its trademark red smile flattening, then curving downward into an almost demonic scowl.

Sans and Gaster released each other. "pap, be careful, that thing's really strong."

"I KNOW. I'VE FOUGHT IT ALREADY. IT CAN'T HURT ME."

"can't hurt you?! when i even _touched_ that thing i was...well, it really hurt. all those memories, those...feelings. how can that not hurt you? pap..."

"BECAUSE I'VE ALWAYS BEEN TRUTHFUL TO MYSELF."

His words were almost heroic in their stoicism. Sans knew he wasn't just playing around, wasn't just trying to impress somebody with his prowess. There was a lifetime of experience behind those words, words that told him to remain silent, to hear him out.

"SANS. I HAVE SOMETHING TO ADMIT TO YOU."

The Entity didn't want to give Papyrus time to speak, charging forward in a blind rage. Raising one red-gloved hand, Papyrus roused his magic, spreading his fingers as its blue light brightened into a blaze. A large wall of cyan-colored bones surged from the ground, blocking the shadow's assault in an almost effortless display of power.

"RUDE. I ASKED YOU NOT TO INTERRUPT."

He lowered his hand, but the wall remained. Truly remarkable, even for The Great Papyrus. He turned back towards his family, clearing his throat.

"SANS. THOSE RESETS. I...REMEMBER SOME OF THEM. COMPLETELY."

"what?! pap...pap this ain't the time to be joking."

"I'M SERIOUS. BACK IN SNOWDIN...I MET SOMEONE. A FLOWER. THIS FLOWER ACTED AS A FRIEND TO ME, A CONFIDANT. OUTSIDE OF YOU AND UNDYNE, HE WAS THE FIRST FRIEND I'D EVER REALLY HAD THERE. I WAS...WEAKER THEN. I WANTED TO BE A ROYAL GUARD BECAUSE I KNEW THAT EVERYBODY THOUGHT I WAS..."

He slumped his shoulders and hung his head.

"...STUPID. AN IDIOT. A WEIRDO. NOBODY RESPECTED ME, BUT EVEN WORSE THAN THAT, EVERYBODY JUST...IGNORED ME. THE FLOWER...KNEW THAT. AT FIRST, HE MADE ME FEEL GREAT, LIKE A HERO. HE WOULD GIVE ME ADVICE, AND I'D TAKE IT, AND YOU KNOW WHAT? IT WORKED! I'D MAKE FRIENDS OUT OF THE TOWNSPEOPLE, IT WAS GREAT!"

"...except..."

"I WOULD WAKE UP, AND EVERYBODY WOULD ACT AS IF NOTHING HAPPENED. AT FIRST I THOUGHT I'D DREAMED IT, AND TRIED OUT HIS ADVICE AGAIN. IT WORKED AGAIN, BUT...I DIDN'T UNDERSTAND. I ASKED THE FLOWER, BUT HE ACTED LIKE HE'D NEVER MET ME BEFORE! HE MOCKED ME, TOLD ME I WAS CRAZY! THE NEXT DAY...I WOKE UP, AND IT WAS THE SAME DAY AGAIN. I THOUGHT ABOUT TELLING YOU, BUT...WELL, I DIDN'T WANT TO WORRY YOU."

"yeah, but i was goin' through the same stuff, you could've..."

"I KNOW. I WATCHED YOU. AS THE FLOWER'S RESETS KEPT ON HAPPENING, IT BECAME MORE AND MORE...WRETCHED. IT USED ITS POWERS TO PLAY WITH PEOPLE. HE HURT PEOPLE, AND JUST RESTARTED. HE KILLED PEOPLE, AND JUST BROUGHT THEM BACK LIKE IT WERE NOTHING. AND YOU...I DIDN'T KNOW IF YOU KNEW IT WAS HAPPENING, AND I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT TO DO."

"you...watched me? it wasn't just...sudden...?"

"NO. SANS, YOU WERE ALWAYS A BIT LAZY, SURE, BUT OVER TIME, YOU STARTED TO JUST...SLIP. YOU SHIRKED EVEN THE SIMPLEST OF DUTIES, YOU HAD TO BE CARRIED TO YOUR STATION EVERY TIME. FOR THREE ENTIRE RESETS, YOU SPENT THE ENTIRE TIME IN YOUR ROOM. I COULD HEAR YOU CRYING, SANS."

Sans felt a twinge of embarrassment. "so why didn't you say anything?!"

"BECAUSE I WASN'T SURE. I EVEN BELIEVED THE FLOWER WHEN HE TOLD ME I WAS CRAZY. I WAS...SCARED. BUT...ONE DAY YOU JUST CAME OUT OF YOUR ROOM LIKE NOTHING WAS WRONG. YOU GAVE ME THAT SMILE, TOLD ME A TERRIBLE JOKE, AND JUST...WENT ABOUT YOUR DAY. I THOUGHT ABOUT SAYING SOMETHING, BUT THAT DAY, SOMEBODY ELSE ARRIVED IN THE UNDERGROUND."

A warm feeling entered Sans' heart. frisk.

"YEAH. ONCE FRISK SHOWED UP, I COULDN'T REMEMBER THE RESETS ANYMORE. ACCORDING TO YOU, THE HUMAN WAS CAUSING THEM, BUT I DIDN'T FEEL TRAPPED LIKE YOU DID. I GUESS I WAS LUCKY, BUT...I STILL WORRIED ABOUT THEM. SO I HAD TO KEEP GOING. I HAD TO KEEP BEING MYSELF, BECAUSE YOUR ENCOURAGEMENT OVER THE YEARS...THEY MEANT EVERYTHING TO ME, SANS. _EVERYTHING._ "

"so...when frisk showed up, their determination was so strong that even you lost your memory of the resets. me...i didn't really remember frisk's resets either, i just paid attention to the clues. watched out for anomalies, tried to...put the pieces together. my journal, i could somehow keep it through the resets every time. it was all i had."

Sans walked over to his brother, looking up at the face of The Great Papyrus.

"how...how did you do it? how did you keep on going?!"

"I...HAD TO. IF I DIDN'T, THEN WHATEVER WAS OUT THERE, WHATEVER WAS CAUSING THIS...IT WOULD WIN. I COULDN'T ALLOW THAT. I'M STRONGER THAN THAT, AND I KNOW YOU ARE TOO, SANS."

"nah, i'm not strong enough. if this thing can hurt me, and not you...what'd you say earlier? that you were truthful to yourself? is that...why it can't hurt you? ...can't say that i totally get it."

"THEN LET ME ASK YOU A SIMPLE QUESTION."

Papyrus put his hands on his brother's shoulders.

"SANS. DO YOU TRUST ME?"

Hands went immediately into the pockets of a blue jacket. Sans gazed into his brother's eyes, using whatever determination he had to not look away at that moment, but he always was a bit lazy. His gaze drifted away, followed by him hanging his skull low.

"no. i'm sorry, but i guess i...don't."

"I KNOW."

"but it's not like you're not trustworthy, y'know? i just...i dunno, every time something happened to you, every time you got hurt, it hurt me too. i didn't tell you these things because i was scared of you getting hurt, but...i guess i was just tryin' to protect myself."

"...NOT ENTIRELY TRUE. YOU DID WANT TO PROTECT ME."

"yeah. i mean...of course. i love you, pap, you're the best brother ever. i guess it'd just be stupid to not admit that i had my own selfish reasons for it, y'know? i mean...everybody's a little selfish, but so many people don't admit it. i'm one of those, i suppose."

"OF COURSE. EVERYBODY HAS SELFISH DESIRES. THERE'S NOTHING WRONG IN THAT."

"sure, but i mean...there is. it wasn't fair to you, you deserved better."

"SANS. YOU DID ENOUGH."

"i'm sorry, pap. i'm sorry i didn't trust you. i'm sorry i...did such a bad job as a brother."

"BAD JOB? YOU?! NO WAY."

"pap, i kept you in the dark, lied to you."

"I KNOW YOU DID IT FOR MY SAKE, SANS. I'M GRATEFUL FOR THAT. IN FACT, ONE OF THE REASONS I NEVER ASKED YOU ABOUT IT IN THE FIRST PLACE IS...WELL, THE SAME REASON YOU NEVER BOTHERED TO ASK FRISK ABOUT EVERYTHING."

"frisk? well yeah, i mean, the kid went through a lot. they needed time."

"SO DID YOU. YOU NEEDED TIME. TIME TO SORT IT ALL OUT. TIME TO...HEAL."

He couldn't believe he'd been so ignorant. Frisk's behavior almost seemed to match his own. The silent treatment, not doing well in school...Sans had always thought they were shy, or perhaps they didn't want to be on the surface. No...Frisk had suffered from a severe case of apathy. Always tagging along with him and his brother, as then went from house to house in their day-to-day routines. Never really making decisions for themselves, just doing what they were told. Drifting through their life, instead of really taking charge of it. It presented itself in different ways, but Frisk's hurt was always there, Sans just noticed it first.

Frisk was just like Sans. Frisk needed time, and Sans provided that. Gave them a shoulder to cry on, gave them a helping hand. Sans was Frisk's "Papyrus."

And Papyrus was here. Right here. The pieces all fit. The puzzle was solved.

"BESIDES. EVEN IF I TOLD YOU ABOUT THE RESETS, HOW WOULD YOU HAVE WANTED ME TO ACT? WOULD YOU HAVE WANTED ME TO...CHANGE?"

"...nah. i'd want you to keep on bein' the great papyrus."

"EXACTLY."

"yeah. i get'cha. if you weren't you...that would've really been wrong."

Sans turned his attention toward the blue wall of bones, and the presence that waited beyond it. Papyrus, sensing his brother's intentions, released the magic, leaving his brother face to face with The Entity.

Sans took his hands out of his pockets. "and now we come back to you."

The shadows took a step back. Something was different about the skeleton in front of them now.

"look. i get it. you're scared. you're sad. you're lonely. i mean, you've been following people around, buggin' them for years now. but that doesn't mean that humans are to blame. you can't blame them for what their ancestors did."

Papyrus walked toward the shadow of his friend, holding his arms open.

"HE'S RIGHT! HUMANS AREN'T ALL BAD, THEY DON'T DESERVE TO BE MISERABLE! I KNOW YOU CAN'T POSSIBLY BELIEVE-"

" _You don't know anything about me!"_

"we know you're hurting. we know that you don't want to. hey, maybe we can get you some h-"

His words were silenced by a sudden forceful thrust, deep in his ribcage. He lurched forward, staring at The Entity's crimson smile before looking down. A shadowy tendril, had lodged its way inside, protruding out of the back of Sans' jacket.

"SANS!"

He was so careless. It must have been so easy to ambush him at his most vulnerable moment. This couldn't be how it ended. Not now, not when he had finally gotten his memories of his father back. Not when he had finally come to terms about his own...

...Wait.

Sans realized that his mind, his feelings, were his own. There were no distant sorrows forcing their way into his skull. No painful smells to remind him of the tragedy that befell the kingdom of monsters. He was able to think clearly, to feel everything for himself.

And it didn't hurt.

It was cold. An absence of light would certainly do that. He could feel the shadows wriggling through the tendril, and it almost tickled. Hundreds of tiny regrets buzzed around his spine as Sans began to give a knowing, smug grin. He shot it right back at his foe, resetting his lazy posture, not moving an inch.

But the Entity's smile remained. Something was wrong.

" **Grkkk...S-Sans...Pap...yrus..."**

Without even thinking of his recent wound, Sans spun around and fired a glance at his father. The tentacle that phased through his body had reached all the way past Papyrus, skewering Doctor Gaster in the stomach.

"dad!"

"FATHER!"

Gaster reached down and attempted to grab the tendril, trying to free himself, but it had already wormed its way inside. He could feel all the tiny shadowy globules flowing into his body, into the soul he'd always kept so dear. They swarmed. They writhed. The invaded like a dark, twisted plague overtaking an already weakened land.

Sans spun back and fired a volley of bones, but his foe was already gone. The tentacle was the only trace of its existence here now, and the skeleton watched as its creepy red smile snaked its way through toward his father. Papyrus, in a rare display, attempted to grab the tendril, forgetting that its very nature caused it to phase right through his gloved hand.

The darkness finally disappeared, leaving a horrifically stunned Doctor Gaster hunched over, gasping desperately for air.

"DAD?!" Papyrus said, dashing to his father's side.

" **Pap...yrus...Get Away. Both Of You...S-Stay..."**

"pap, get back."

"SANS! WE CAN'T JUST-"

An inky blackness began to flow over the doctor, covering every inch of his body in a tar-like substance that dripped sickeningly on the ground. It manifested like a thick robe made out of pitch, leaving only the doctor's hands and head exposed.

" **I Said Get Away!"** Gaster screamed, before the desperate light in his eyes died out.

The brothers could feel their father's touch as his magic gave off an immense wave of force. It pushed them both back, accomplishing what Gaster wanted and getting his children away from his transfiguration into this...presence. Before he succumbed to the Entity's incursion, he prayed that his children no longer thought of him as "Gaster."

Papyrus summoned a magical bone and speared it into the ground, hanging on for dear life to stop his backward momentum from pushing him further away. He planted his feet sternly on the ground, erecting another large wall of bones to block the intense pressure erupting from his father.

"SANS!"

His brother, being of a smaller and lighter stature, managed a bit worse than his much cooler brother. The force sent him sailing high into the air, which, if it were anybody else but Sans, would be worrisome. He glanced around, catching the sight of his brother hiding behind his makeshift bulwark of bones, and calculated. Point A to Point B. From here to there in the snap of a finger.

He appeared next to his brother and huddled down behind the shield.

"heh, sorry, i was kinda blown away."

"SANS, THIS IS NO TIME FOR...WELL, IT'S OKAY. I KIND OF MISSED THOSE."

The pressure began to subside, telling them that their father had finally been completely suppressed by the presence that plagued their family for so long. Papyrus released his conjuration and began to study his opponent.

"WHAT IS IT DOING?"

"it...took over our dad! this thing is using his magic to give itself a form, somehow..."

"BUT...I THOUGHT IT NEEDED OUR MEMORIES TO FADE BEFORE IT COULD DO THAT?!"

"maybe it can't hold it, maybe it has a...i dunno, a time limit?"

"THEN...WE JUST HAVE TO UTILIZE YOUR FAVORITE TACTIC."

"you mean..."

"YES, BROTHER! WE STALL FOR TIME!"

"oh man, you're the coolest, bro," Sans said, cracking his knuckles.

Papyrus summoned another long white bone, pointing it at the Gaster-like being that seemed to darken the very air around it.

"HEAR ME, MONSTROSITY! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, HAVE NO INTENTION OF ALLOWING YOU TO CONTINUE DOWN THIS PATH!"

The magic in Sans' left eye flared to life as he kept his impish grin.

"yeah, we aren't about to let you win after we got this far. that'd be a total waste of time, y'know?"

" **FutileFutileFutile You Will Become NothingNothingNothingNothing No Thing No Thing!"**

"IF YOU CHOOSE TO PRESS YOUR ATTACK, KNOW THAT YOU WILL FACE THE GREATEST CHALLENGE OF YOUR ENTIRE...LIFE...EXISTENCE...WHATEVER YOU HAVE!"

In a rather showy manner, Papyrus spun the bone in an impressive display of prowess, emulating the martial-arts masters he'd studied on television with perfection.

"YOU WILL NOW FACE I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, AND HIS BROTHER, THE EVEN GREATER SANS!"

"aw, bro, you don't have to call me that."

"NONSENSE! TOGETHER, YOU AND I MAKE THE GREATEST TEAM OF SENTRIES THE TOWN OF SNOWDIN HAD EVER SEEN!"

"heh, when you put it that way, sure. it's been awhile since we tag-teamed anybody. and we never had the stakes put up so high before. man, it's enough to make a guy want to take a nap."

"SANS, WE CAN'T JUST GIVE UP NOW! WE'RE DOING THIS FOR OUR ENTIRE WORLD!"

"yeah."

"FOR UNDYNE, ALPHYS, ASGORE, TORIEL..."

"for frisk. you hear that, weirdo?! we're doing this for _frisk!_ "

"YEAH! FOR FRISK! NYEH-HEH-HEH!"

" **For FriskFriskFrisk What An Unacceptable RiskRiskRiskRiskRisk!"**

Sans put his hands on his hips and glanced up at his brother. "so. you got a plan?"

Papyrus placed a finger on his chin and pondered for a moment.

"NOPE! I GUESS WE'LL JUST HAVE TO WING IT."

Sans held his hand out, posting up for a high five.

"divide and conquer?"

"DIVIDE AND CONQUER!"

Papyrus slapped his brother's hand, breaking into a sprint and coming round to Gaster's left side. He thrust the bone deep into the being's black body, finding it almost impossible to remove once he'd done so. He let go of his weapon, instinctively summoning another shield comprised of blue bones on his arm as a thick black appendage swung at him.

Gaster started to bear down on Papyrus, bashing his shield over and over again as the skeleton held firm, but he was beginning to lower his stance, giving in from the force. Gaster's arm nearly doubled in size as it swung overhead, threatening to smash into its target.

A dazzling beam of blueish-white energy drilled into Gaster's arm and severed it cleanly, the presence beginning to howl in pain. Behind him stood a strangely energetic Sans, smiling. Always smiling.

"SANS! YOU MIGHT HURT DAD!"

"aw, c'mon papyrus, if physical attacks aren't gonna work, we gotta use magic. besides..."

The loosed arm wriggled on the ground and began to seep back toward its source. It almost seemed to melt into Gaster's "robe," returning its mass as it congealed together.

"...i don't think this 'thing' is dad."

"HMM."

" **Dad Dad Dadadadadadadadadadadadadadada!"**

Papyrus deftly leapt away from the presence, sprinting around to Sans' position.

"YOU THINK HE'S IN THERE SOMEWHERE?"

"probably, but we gotta figure out a way in, or to get him out-whoa!"

A long black limb swept horizontally at the skeletons. Papyrus demonstrated a flawless backflip, bounding back onto his hands, then springing to his feet, feeling accomplished. Sans, of course, merely teleported a few feet above his opponent's attack, landing right back where he started, shrugging.

"what, don't tell me this thing thought we were gonna sit here and take it."

The inky mass lunged for Papyrus. **"Take It Only Takes Takes TakeTakeTakeTakeTake-"**

It was a moment that stretched for an eternity in Papyrus' mind. His soul began to feel like it was vibrating as it conjured his magics together, focusing into a familiar form. A Gaster family recipe.

He outstretched his arms, flaring his fingers open toward Gaster with a hearty "NYEH!"

As it was lunging, Gaster's "body" immediately collapsed to the ground, the momentum carrying it a few feet further as its poor constitution sloshed over like spilled tar. The edges of the shadows appeared to have a deep blue tint to them.

"YOU'RE BLUE NOW!"

Sans chuckled. "that's his attack."

The Entity began to growl through Gaster's mouth, its combined form beginning to violently shift. Sans dashed over to his brother, leaping onto his back.

"oop, time to go, pap!"

" **Blue...Blue Blue No No It Is Only Red Red Red On Black Black Black BlackBlackBlackBlackBlack!"**

The being's goopy black form exploded, sending a dangerous torrent of black tentacles whipping out in all directions, stretching for what looked like hundreds of yards.

Sans' shortcut took more energy than normal, but it was still effective enough, although he hadn't teleported his brother before, just Frisk. They both appeared leagues away from their adversary as Sans hopped down off of his brother's shoulders.

"WOWIE...IS THAT WHAT IT FEELS LIKE?!"

"yeah, you get used to it."

"I...FELT LIKE I WAS IN TWO DIFFERENT PLACES AT THE SAME TIME!"

"sure. i mean...basically i just opened a door from here to there, y'know? simple, really."

"IS IT REALLY THAT SIMPLE?!"

"...eh, you're probably right. i can teach you sometime though."

In the distance, Gaster's tantrum subsided, as his eyesockets caught a glimpse of his prey.

" **Time To To To ToToToToTo EndEndEndEndEndEnd End It All ItAllItAllItAll!"**

His shadowy form began to swell, darkness upon darkness writhing into itself to increase its mass. The monstrosity grew to enormous proportions, towering well over Sans and Papyrus by about fifty feet, staring down at the miniscule skeletons and beginning to let out a roaring laugh. It echoed through what felt like the entirety of The Void, as the titanic creature resumed its assault.

"papyrus, this might be our chance!" Sans shouted, teleporting away from an almost unavoidable attack.

Papyrus bolted into another sprint, bounding over and ducking under Gaster's speedy tendrils with ease. His brother constantly kept teleporting right next to him as he ran.

"if he grows this big-"

A shortcut.

"-then his density is changing!"

Another.

"everything's mass is constant, which means-"

Yep. Again.

"-that he's bigger, but his 'skin'-"

Uh-huh.

"-is thinner! pap, you gotta use your special attack! it might break through!"

"WHAT?!" Papyrus gasped, using another magical shield to block an almost unexpected attack, "SANS, I...I DON'T LIKE USING IT. IT'S TOO MUCH!"

"do it! i'll run interference!"

Papyrus summoned another large bone wall in front of him as he focused, relying on his brother to keep him defended as he prepared. Surprising, he didn't really expect his brother to be working this hard, but then again, maybe Sans was finally returning to his old self. The one that took care of him when he was a child. The one who...

Right. No time to dwell on that now. He had to channel. Had to concentrate.

On the other side of the wall, Sans stared down his father and mentor, or at least, the twisted mockery he was forced to become. The skeleton's eye was flashing between cyan and yellow. His hands were ready.

Several thick tendrils fired out toward Sans, who found it a bit disappointing that this thing could only attack like this. He'd hoped for variety, but he'd take what he could get.

Sans' gravity powers didn't really have a lot of flash to them, like his brother's, but it was the effects that mattered. Tentacle after tentacle began to twist away from their target, looping back toward Gaster and skewering the colossus. It didn't really do much, since the creature just absorbed them back into itself and fired again.

Stall for time. Sans' specialty at this point. Keep him off of Papyrus. Keep him distracted.

Back on the other side, Papyrus could feel his soul begin to crackle. He ignored the sounds of his brother's conflict as he pulled every bit of magic into a point, a shining orange ball of light beginning to form above his head. He felt himself begin to almost pull apart, trying to keep the wall up while also maintaining his channel.

Finally, the magic had chosen a form. The orange light had morphed into an enormous animal-like skull, similar to the blasters he'd seen Sans use before. He was at his limit. It was now or never.

"S...SANS! IT'S READY!"

The wall dissipated into nothing, his brother glanced back at Papyrus.

"do it!" Sans commanded, warping out of harm's way.

"NYEEEEEEEEHHHHHHH!"

The skull above Papyrus' head began to shudder as once again, a blazing amber light conjured into its mouth. Papyrus kept its jaws clamped shut in order to build up the pressure it needed for maximum efficacy. The magic strained for freedom, pushing Papyrus' strength to its very brink, before he finally let loose the destruction he'd always feared was just...too much for any one person.

But this wasn't a person. Not anymore.

A brilliant ray of orange light burned its way towards Gaster, blasting the creature at its very core. Papyrus' eyes shone with the same intensity as the beam of unbridled power that was drilling its way into his father's monstrous form. All his hopes were pinned on this attack. If it didn't work...

Gaster, and The Entity, howled in agony together, in a twisted harmony. Once the magic had done its work, and tapered off, the monstrosity slumped backward, clearly stunned. At its base, where the blow was struck, there appeared to be something...different.

A light. Coming from a sort of...hole in its structure.

"pap...is that?!"

Papyrus took a deep breath and composed himself.

"SANS! THAT MIGHT BE IT!"

"but bro, we don't know what's in there. one of us should stay out here just in case..."

Papyrus rested a hand on his brother's shoulder.

"SANS. DO YOU TRUST ME?"

Sans placed his hand over his brother's. He didn't want to let go.

"yeah," he nodded. "yeah. i trust you."

It was all he needed to hear. Papyrus sprinted toward Gaster, never wavering for a second. Once he'd made it to the opening, Sans watched his brother completely disappear.

"...but you better come back, okay?"

* * *

It was dark. That certainly wasn't a surprise.

Red boots stepped forward into the unknown, carefully, cautiously. It was just like Papyrus to take care in everything he did. All the pieces in their place. All the puzzles had to be solved.

"DAD?!"

" **I...Couldn't..."**

Papyrus turned around, becoming slightly frustrated at just how many times things were appearing right behind him. It turned to relief, as he found a skeleton, wearing a favored white lab coat, sitting down on his knees. A strange white cloud enveloped his head, and it appeared to "glitch" every now and then.

It smelled like sons and lost souls.

"DAD...ARE YOU ALRIGHT? ARE YOU UNHARMED?!"

" **I Failed. Everything I Did...It's All A Failure."**

"THAT'S OKAY! WE'RE ALL FREE NOW, THE BARRIER IS GONE! FRISK..."

A glowing red light floated out from behind Doctor Gaster. The soul that The Entity kept so dear, but it looked...afraid, somehow. It spread itself out, until it had formed into the shape of a small child.

"He's...the only one keeping us here, now."

"I...DON'T UNDERSTAND."

"This...existence. It's symbiotic. I needed it just like it needed me, but...I can't do this anymore. I don't want to hurt anyone. I just...I just want to see my friend again."

"YOU...COULD, YOU KNOW. I-I COULD HELP YOU."

"I know, but I'm not the one who needs help now. He does."

" **We'll Be...Trapped Here Forever."**

Papyrus walked toward his father. "DAD...DOCTOR GASTER. WE'RE OKAY! WE REALLY ARE!"

" **I Can't Face The King Again. I...I Have To Be Strong. For Them. For My...**

Finally, Papyrus understood.

All the pressures of being the Royal Scientist. Everybody's hopes and dreams, the rested solely on one person's shoulders. Gaster had been around for so long, for so many decades, perhaps centuries or more. He was here before The Barrier was created, and the entire time, he was responsible for getting them out of here.

It was an unbelievable amount of stress. And above it all?

He had to stay strong. For everybody.

But nobody really thought about _him._

Papyrus was always so understanding. He grabbed his father, embracing him dearly. The words flowed out from his soul. A memory. The words he'd needed right then and there.

From his big brother, Sans.

"DAD..."

Papyrus wrapped his arms around his father and brought him even closer, squeezing him tightly.

"...YOU CAN CRY, YOU KNOW."

" **What?"** Gaster exclaimed, the mist beginning to lighten.

"CRY. YOU WANT TO CRY, RIGHT? IT'S OKAY."

Papyrus couldn't see it, but Gaster's head was now clearly visible. No longer lost in the haze of its own woes.

" **Son...I don't..."**

"SHH...I GET IT, BUT YOU DON'T HAVE TO PUT ON A BRAVE FACE FOR ME, OR FOR ANYONE, REALLY. IT'S ALRIGHT."

" **Pap...Papyrus..."**

Gaster began to shake, burying his head in his child's shoulders. Regretful, wailing sobs began to erupt from the very culmination of his being as his body heaved under Papyrus' embrace. Years of ignored anguish, decades of tossed-aside doubts. Centuries of unimaginable pain and sorrow. They were here now, and they were being admitted to. They were finally becoming something real, they were finally being accepted.

They were finally going to be free.

Papyrus could feel it. The heartbeat sensation. It was finally back. He was overjoyed to feel it beating once again within his breast. His father's love, no, his very existence was finally beginning to reawaken, and in the distance, he could feel his brother's as well.

They were all finally back together, as one.

Gaster's cries slowly came to an end as he looked his son in the eyes.

" **Papyrus...I Am...So Proud Of...Both Of You."**

"FATHER, YOU'RE..."

" **I'm Alright Now."**

They released each other as Gaster rose to his feet. Papyrus turned his attention to the crimson shade, who watched with saddened eyes.

"WHAT ABOUT YOU?"

The presence hung its head. "I...I want to stop. These shadows, they were using me. Using my determination to keep themselves together. But now, I...I'm sorry. I'm very sorry."

"IT'S ALRIGHT. C'MON, LET'S GET OUT OF HERE, OKAY?"

Papyrus extended a hand. The shade reached for it, but hesitated, feeling like it didn't deserve such kindness from somebody it had tried so hard to kill before. It finally pressed its gentle palm into Papyrus' glove, looking at the skeleton with a smile.

Papyrus' smile was even brighter.

Gaster rested a proud hand on his son's shoulder.

" **Papyrus, Let's Not Keep Your Brother Waiting."**

It smelled like everybody's hearts were beating as one.

All burning with the same desire.

* * *

 _Wow. I spent SO MUCH time on this chapter, you guys have no idea. It wasn't even that long compared to some of the others, but man I just had to make sure this went out with at least a semblance of a bang, y'know?_

 _...Still getting used to long fight scenes. I really hope this climax paid off. Honestly I feel it lacks in a few places but I can't for the life of me figure out where or what to add. If I figure it out, maybe I'll edit it later._

 _For now though, this chapter is done. One more! ...and maybe a surprise at the end. Thank you for reading! :D_


	18. Across Time And Space

_You're falling out...  
I'm falling in...  
So it's goodbye again..._

 _It's way past time,  
For one last try,  
So it's goodbye again..._

-Vertical Horizon, "Goodbye Again"

* * *

There were times when Sans matched his brother's outlook on certain situations. There were plenty of days where being alone at his sentry station meant a moment of peace and quiet. Just him, the snow, and the trees of Snowdin.

But here. No.

Sans hated being left alone this time.

His mind was far too full of information to process all at once. He was still breathing heavy from the earlier battle, for one. And again, he just watched as his brother disappeared into the remains of his father's monstrous form. Was that even a smart idea? Was he going to get back? How could he even go on without him?

And then there was the Entity. A symbiotic existence of some sort, right? That soul wasn't in control, but those tiny shadows, those fragments of awful memories couldn't just exist on their own, although he had no idea what really happens when they...expire? Do they even expire? They certainly didn't seem like they had forgotten themselves, but how did they even end up here? How did they even meet that soul in the first place?

There had to be something. Some kind of clue. Sans himself began to recover memories that were stolen by this...thing, by admitting to his own fears. Admission, maybe that was it. When somebody accepts who they are, accepts their feelings, even the bad ones. Maybe these emotions were...maybe.

Wait.

A warm pulsation startled him into standing back up. At first, he thought he might be under attack, that his soul was perhaps in danger, but...there was something about it. It felt...no. It _smelled_ like something.

It smelled like pillows and...

and...

Papyrus.

It came into his mind's eye, that night when he openly wept into his brother's arms. The first time he'd ever admitted something so private, so intimate. Papyrus deserved to know. Sans knew at that moment that right there, sitting on a silly race-car bed, was when he wanted to tell Papyrus everything.

He didn't even tell him everything. He made up for it now, would continue to do it. For him, and for himself.

The feeling in his chest began to pulse faster and stronger. It almost felt like...

...there were two. There were two of them.

Sans gave a sigh of relief and held up his hand.

"three...two...one."

The colossal, and yet strangely peaceful body of Doctor Gaster's altered form began to vibrate. Hundreds, if not thousands of tiny waves rushed into the soles of Sans' slippers, urging him to brace himself. Large cracks of light began to form, the same intensity as the "hole" that appeared at the creature's base. They splintered into almost beautiful fractal patterns, almost as if the doctor himself were programming them in.

In a violent, beautiful outburst, the inky blackness shattered. A myriad of tiny shadows twisted and swirled around like a powerful, and yet harmless cyclone. At its center, a very bright light. Its focal point.

Papyrus and Gaster.

He didn't know why, but he could hardly believe it. His perpetual smile widened even further as Sans almost sprinted toward his family, completely disregarding the shadows that drifted around them. A mixture of both knowing they were harmless, and of caring about something much, much greater.

Papyrus held a bright red light in the palm of his gloved hand, knowing what was about to happen next. He held hand out to the side as his brother strongly embraced him, the force was strong enough to knock anybody else to the ground. Thankfully, Papyrus' training kept him on his feet.

"there you are," Sans nuzzled deeper.

"SORRY TO KEEP YOU WAITING," Papyrus said, resting his free hand on the top of his brother's skull.

"s'ok. gave me some time to think."

The brothers released each other, as Sans moved on to Gaster. Back to his regular self; lab coat, badge, skull-cracks, and holey-hands in all.

"hey."

" **Sans. I'm..."**

"whoa, dad...you been crying?"

Gaster placed a hand on his cheekbone. He had already all but forgotten what had transpired deep down within the depths of his being. He wiped his eyes with his sleeve, blinking and serving a kindly smile to his son.

" **I'm alright now. Papyrus helped me out."**

"yeah. he's pretty good at that, huh?"

Gaster nodded.

"SANS," Papyrus spoke up, holding his occupied hand out, "THIS IS..."

"yeah. it's the soul. it was keeping this thing together."

" **Chara."**

"...what?!"

" **Their name. It was Chara."**

With every syllable of its name, the soul's light began to flicker. Memories. Existence.

"that's...that really was the first human that fell, huh?"

Another nod.

"alright. i...i think i get it. i think i know what happened. may i?"

Sans held two cupped, bony hands out to his brother. Papyrus responded by letting the soul drift slowly into them.

"a long time ago, a human fell into the underground," he began.

Papyrus took the opportunity to sit down, Gaster following suit.

"this kid was adopted by the royal family. asgore, toriel, and their son, asriel. they saw chara as a beacon of hope for peace between humans and monsters, that perhaps this could mean the removal of the barrier. for their freedom. and if not, at the very least, it meant that not all humans were evil. of course, we know that _now,_ but this was a long time ago."

"so, for awhile, the underground was full of hope. everybody was happy, but...something happened. chara got really sick, and passed away. asriel took their soul, so he could return their body to the surface, to the village they came from. when he got there, he was attacked."

The soul began to darken.

"he returned to the underground, and made it all the way to the throne room before he...passed away."

Darker. Sans gave it a gentle pet.

"so after that, the underground fell into despair. for a short time, it was a period of mourning for everybody. for awhile, everybody was sad, and it was tough to keep on going. but then, the king held a speech."

It seemed to shrink into his hands.

"it's okay, kid. anyway, asgore told everybody that he was going to find a way to free everybody, through the use of soul power. he said that any human who would fall down here would be...'collected,' to serve that end, and when it was over, the war would begin again, and that monsters would win. everybody was ecstatic, they filled their hearts and souls with hope once again."

Sans began to pace around, looking at the swarms of shadows.

"but...i think everybody was still sad, y'know? they felt hopeful, but there was still sorrow nestling deep down in their souls. eventually, everybody decided to start moving on, to live with the hope that someday they'd get out of the underground."

He held a free hand out, letting the shadows pass right through them.

"so when they moved on, their emotions were kinda...'thrown away,' i think. discarded and ignored. but...emotions are power, right? they're how our souls shape their magic, which in itself is a force of change. so for monsters, emotions have a sense of...permanence in the world. and under the barrier, where nothing could leave, that can cause problems."

He cupped both hands under the soul again. It seemed to nuzzle up against his palms.

"and where did chara's soul go when asriel died? human souls don't exactly...expire like monster souls do. again, if it can't leave the barrier, this soul, which is clearly full of determination, must've...just floated around. lost. scared. until it found something to keep it going. these shadows...these thrown away emotions, they were _about_ them, so they were drawn together. they probably took the form of whatever this soul was made out of, so...it looked like a kid. and that kid...kinda looked like frisk, but not exactly."

Sans looked down at the soul, sighing. Such a tiny thing. A tiny, very human thing.

" **Sans. The Void...This Is Where...Spent Energy Is Supposed To Go."** Gaster said.

"...spent energy? but...i thought energy couldn't be created or destroyed, only manipulated?"

" **That Is Correct. But...Technically, It Comes Here When It Is...Lost. It Is Then...Distributed Elsewhere."**

Sans looked his father in the eyes, seeing no hint of falsehood, not that he had any reason to look. He gave a nod, and gazed back down at the scarlet beacon in his hands.

"hey kid. can you hear me?"

It pulsed.

"heh. listen. i...don't know what you're going through, but...i can kinda figure that you're still really scared. even though papyrus is here and i know he's pretty awesome."

"THANK YOU!"

"still, y'know, it's gotta be scary. being all alone, being surrounded by everybody's sad memories of you. being...dead. i couldn't imagine how bad that all is. when i was...killed, i woke up back in my bed, repeating the day again. guess i was lucky."

The soul looked like it wanted to say it was sorry.

"okay, okay, it's okay, really. it's over, right? we're here, it's done. but look...these things? you don't need them. you never did, and you can let them go. when you do, if dad's right, they'll just go back into being energy, being a neutral force of change. they'll be...happier, y'know? and you...well..."

He sighed again.

"...maybe you'll wake up in your bed. that sound good?"

It still looked unsure.

"chara. you have to let go. you...gotta move on. we all do."

For a moment, it bobbed up and down. No...it was...nodding, solemnly.

The torrent of shadows began to wobble as it swirled around the three, an errant batch of shadows attempting to claw at the soul before being pulled away. They wanted it. Determination. The will to keep on living, to keep on existing. To keep on maintaining their form.

So desperate to cling to sorrow.

The soul brightened to a brilliant intensity. An act of mercy for thousands of tiny fragments of despair.

The force of the tempest began to create an eerie wind, the three having to brace themselves to remain on their feet. Gaster, being the physically weakest at the moment, clutched his elbows as his lab coat fluttered behind him. Papyrus barely had to try, only needing to hang on to the front of his cape to keep it from being forcefully removed.

They swirled faster and faster as the tiny shadows began to break off from the "pack," shooting off into the nothingness of The Void. More and more followed suit, being thrown into the ether like petals at the mercy of a hurricane. The tiny shades were finally scattered far and wide, disappearing into the gray they were destined to return to.

The soul relaxed.

"good job. very very good job, kid. you did it. you did it."

Sans could feel an unease in the air, glancing down at the soul again. He knew what was coming, and he could feel that the others did as well. Their hearts were beating as one, and they were slowing down. A sadness at the inevitability of all things.

"so, kid. chara...i guess this is where we say goodbye."

It had finally let go. All its sadness, all its hatred. All the suffering was gone, and the soul appeared to be all the better for it. Its light didn't waver as it began to float into the air, higher and higher.

"hey kid! listen! there's...somebody out there...lookin' for ya! if you find him...tell him that every monster in the underground...tell him we said 'thanks,' ok?"

Higher and higher. Its crimson light began to mix with the gray, almost as if it were fighting for its last breath, or for one last beat of its heart. Sans heard a familiar, and painful sound high above him. He flinched and shoved his hands into his pockets. Memories.

Frisk.

" **It Was For The Best. They Were Doomed Without A Body To Sustain Themselves."**

"yeah. i just...i dunno. i guess i wanted a happier ending, that's all. that kid...from what frisk told me, that kid just wasn't happy. they only found it for a short time, and then..."

"SANS."

A gloved hand rested on the shoulder of a blue jacket. Hands came out of the pockets again.

"heh, sorry. i'm gettin' all sentimental now, huh?"

"NO, IT'S OKAY. WE JUST...NEED TO MOVE ON."

Sans nodded. "yeah, you're right, bro."

He turned to his father. "so...what did you mean about earlier? about this place being where energy goes when it's 'lost'?"

A smile crossed Doctor Gaster's lips. **"Perhaps It's Better To Show You."**

Gaster held his hands up, allowing his desire to take control. From out of the ether came several window-like images showing a wide variety of subjects. A child taking his first steps, a person working in a restaurant, a dog playfully jumping into a river after a stick. More images. Hundreds upon hundreds. Thousands. Maybe millions.

All showing different things, happening at different times.

" **I Have Been Here A Long Time. The Void...It's Not Just...'Non-Existence.'"**

He waved a hand, and the images began to shift. All showing a familiar setting. The Underground.

" **The Void Is...What I Like To Call, 'The Space In-Between.' It's The Path Of Least Resistance. It Exists Between Existences, While Also Existing _Outside_ Of Them."**

"WOWIE..." Papyrus said, gazing on in awe.

The images, while showing the Underground, were still unfamiliar.

" **These Are...All Different Existences. Different Realities. It Looks The Same, But The Choices Are Different. The Personalities May Be Different. Some People May Exist, Some May Not. It's An Endless Sea Of Possibilities. And It's All Because Of The Void."**

He pushed one of the windows toward his sons.

" **Look Here. This Is A Reality In Which You Two Are Almost Exactly Reversed. Sans Is A Go-Getting, Royal Guard-Aspiring Ball Of Energy. Likewise, Papyrus Is Lazy, Barely Trying, Unless It's To Help His Brother."**

"...HOW SADDENING."

"sad? pap, you don't get it. that means there could be thousands of...'us!' the possibilities of..."

"SANS, THAT JUST MEANS THERE'S JUST AS MANY LAZYBONES!"

"yup!"

"UGH," Papyrus sighed, rubbing his forehead.

"so...what about the energy? conservation of energy states..."

" **Yes. About That. Reality...Has Limits, So To Speak. Realities Can...Fill Up. And When They Get Dangerously Close...The Void Begins To Open, To Take Energy In. That Energy Is Then Redistributed From Here, To Create."**

"...CREATE? YOU MEAN..."

" **Hmm...How To Explain. Papyrus...What Is Your Favorite Story?"**

"OH! THAT'S EASY! PEEK-A-BOO WITH FLUFFY BUNNY!"

Gaster looked at Sans with a raised brow.

"yep, he's tellin' the truth."

" **Hmm...Papyrus...Try To Focus On The Story. Try To Pull It From The Depths Of Your Mind."**

Papyrus held his hand to his forehead and closed his eyes. It was a bit...dramatic, but considering the skeleton's natural demeanor, it fit rather well. All of the windows drifted away, as one rose up out from the ground in front of Papyrus.

It showed an image of a small pink bunny, hiding its face in its paws.

"...WAIT..."

'...what?"

Gaster let out a hearty laugh. **"I Was Surprised Too, When I Realized."**

"...dad, does this mean that everything..."

The doctor nodded. **"Every Story. Every Piece Of Art. It's A Universe, All To Itself."**

"what, you're saying our world is, too?"

" **It Could Be. Maybe Somebody In A Higher Domain Thought Up Our World. Maybe Somebody In An Even Higher Domain Thought Up Theirs. Maybe It's A Cycle, And This Tiny Bunny Might Create The World At The Highest Domain Possible. Emotions...Are Power. And People Rarely Create Art Without An Emotional Attachment. That Power...Resonates Here, And The Latent Energies Create Another. And Another. And Another. Life...Begets Life. Isn't That Just...Perfect?"**

The stars in Gaster's eyes were finally beginning to twinkle again.

" **And Then Again, Who's To Say That The Creator Has Absolute Control? Maybe These Places Don't Become Real Until More People See Them. A Communal Effort, Yes? A Shared Experience, Emotions All Coming Together To Make Something Real. Something More Than Themselves."**

"or maybe it's all just a big coincidence."

" **That Possibility Crossed My Mind As Well. Perhaps These Realities Already Existed, And Creators...Managed To Draw Upon Them. Like A...Muse Of Some Kind."**

"heh...either way, i guess it's nice to think about every now and then."

Gaster nodded.

"ONE THING STILL PUZZLES ME. WHY DID SO MANY PEOPLE LOSE THEIR MEMORIES OF YOU, DAD?"

"probably because he wasn't in 'reality' anymore, pap. he was here, 'in between,' y'know? we were the only ones who could hold on to our memories because our souls are...well, the same, essentially."

"DO YOU THINK THEY'LL GET THEIR MEMORIES BACK WHEN WE GET HOME?"

Sans and Gaster exchanged hopeless glances before turning away. Neither of them wanted to look Papyrus in the eyes, nobody wanted to see that light fade out.

"pap. we..."

" **We Are Here, Now. There...Isn't Really An Exit."**

"NONSENSE! IF WE GOT IN, WE CAN SURELY GET OUT, WE JUST HAVE TO KEEP LOOKING!"

"papyrus...dad's been in here for seventeen years. don't you think he would've found an exit by now?"

"I...I DON'T KNOW! BUT WE CAN'T JUST GIVE UP!"

" **Papyrus. It's Alright. We're Together. We..."**

"I'M NOT GOING TO JUST SIT HERE AND WAIT. I'M GOING TO FIND AN EXIT!"

He began to scan his surroundings, hurriedly searching for something he'd lost track of in all the chaos. His cape almost twisted around with how fast he was spinning. He stopped suddenly and ran into the distance, picking up a large green duffel bag and slinging the strap over his shoulder again.

"...THERE. NOW COME ON, LET'S START LOOKING."

Sans tilted his head in confusion. "pap...what's with the bag?"

"IT HAS SUPPLIES, OF COURSE!"

"oh. like food and stuff?"

"WELL...NOT EXACTLY."

"you brought supplies and that didn't include food?"

"NOPE!"

"...heh. fair enough."

"I'M GLAD YOU AGREE! NOW LET'S GET GOING. THERE HAS TO BE AN EXIT OUT THERE SOMEW-"

" **P-Papyrus..."**

There was something about his voice that compelled the two to stop everything and turn around. Gaster stood with his head hanging down, arms to the side. His fists were clenched into extremely tight balls, so tight that his fingers were starting to stick out of the holes in his palms.

He was shaking.

"dad...?"

" **I...Th-think I Might Know...A Way Out, But..."**

"GREAT! SO LET'S GET-"

"pap. something's wrong."

Gaster's quivering intensified. His eyes began to water as his mouth trembled in between shallow, terrified breaths.

" **I...C-c-could Try T-to...C-collapse S-space Around Us. It M-might Send Us...Back. Take Something From Between Existences And...F-Force Them Back T-to Their Reality."**

"...but you won't survive if you do, right?"

It was everything that Gaster was afraid of. His own mortality.

"WHAT?!"

" **It...Might Be The Only Way To Get You Two...Home."**

"no. no way. we'll find some other way, we're not gonna leave after we just found you. no way!"

"SANS," Papyrus said, holding a red-gloved hand over his heart. "I...WANT TO SEE FRISK AGAIN."

"but pap, seriously? you want our dad to die for that?!"

"NO! I...JUST THINK THAT IT'S OUR DAD'S DECISION TO MAKE."

"but..."

"DON'T YOU WANT TO SEE FRISK AGAIN, ALSO?"

Sans' heart felt like it fell into his stomach. He pulled his hood over his head, showing his second nervous tic...a more serious one. Thoughts of being here for eternity crept into his mind, thoughts of being lost forever. Thoughts of being forgotten.

A tear rolled down his cheek before he caught it.

"frisk...they called me...'dad.'"

Papyrus rested his hand on Sans' shoulder before bringing him closer for another embrace. It was a good day for comforting hugs.

Gaster sighed, turning around. His shaking came to a slow stop.

" **...Seventeen Years Ago, Sans And I Began Our Experiment On The Artificial Save Point."**

The sons of Doctor Gaster held their tongues.

" **We Started, And The Machine Created Its 'Field' Around It. I Was Ready To Go Back, To Try To Stop The Creation Of The Barrier, But Something Unexpected Happened."**

He turned around to face his children. He was...smiling.

" **On The Other Side Of The Glass, Inside The Field. There Was A Child, Trying To Show Me A Drawing He Did. This Was A Problem, You See, Because This Field Was What Would Have Caused My Consciousness To Travel Back In The First Place. But...With A Three-Year-Old Skeleton, There Was A Complication. A Three-Year-Old Couldn't Travel Further Into The Past, Through Their Own Consciousness, Because It Didn't Exist, You See."**

"I'M..."

Sans tugged on Papyrus' cape and held a finger over his grin in an effort to hush his brother.

" **So A Paradox Occurred. Reality Began To Break Down, And As A Last-Minute Attempt To Preserve Our World, The Void Opened Up, Absorbing All The Energy Within The Field. This Included Me, And...Well...Young Papyrus. Then You Ran In, Sans. I Heard You Calling My Name. Papyrus Was Still With Me, So I Used All The Strength I Had To...Push Him Toward You. And You Found Him!"**

"...so that's what happened."

" **Sans. If You Were In My Shoes, And Frisk Were Stuck Here, What Would You Do?"**

"i...i'd help them get back."

Gaster smiled and nodded.

"ok. okay but...i mean, dad..."

The brothers could feel an incredible amount of power swelling within Gaster. It was clear that his mind had been made up, and that it was now or never.

" **I've Been So Afraid Of Dying, But I Didn't Understand Why Until Now. I Wasn't Afraid Of Dying, I Was...Afraid Of Not Leaving Anything Behind. Being Forgotten. I Know Now...You Won't Forget Me. You're My Legacy. My Children. I Have To Return You To A World That Will Give You A Future."**

"DAD..."

"dad..."

" **I Don't Have Much Power Left After You Two Were Born. Just Enough...For Maybe One Last Try. My Sons...I Have To Do This.**

The power surged outward from the doctor, as everything surrounding the three began to twist and warp in a strange...and yet familiar way.

" **You Two Made Me So Proud."**

He brought his hands up, the twisting space becoming even more twisted around them. His arms began to vibrate as the energy surged through them.

" **Control...The Power..."**

Papyrus reached out for his father. Sans grabbed his hand away and held his brother close.

" **Alter The Perception...Of Space..."**

They held each other tighter, hoping this would work. Hoping their father's last wish wasn't in vain.

Gaster slammed his hands together. Power crashed against itself like a mighty wave.

" **And Delete...The Undesired Outcome!"**

* * *

It was black.

Sans blinked several times in an effort to try to catch any sort of light at all, realizing there was none. The Void was a paradise compared to this, being lost in the dark.

It smelled like seventeen years ago, in the spacial crash.

"papyrus?!"

His movements felt sluggish, almost as if something was trying to keep him here. He could just barely make out his own hands, and when he could, they were surrounded with afterimages from every single movement. Time was acting differently here. Like it was recording every single action.

"pap?!"

"I'M...HERE!"

Sans pulled his hood off of his head, listening for his brother's voice again. It echoed from all around, Forcing the skeleton to close his eyes to try to pinpoint its location.

"pap...where are you?!"

Two hands rested firmly on the shoulders of Sans' jacket.

"RIGHT HERE."

Sans gave a sigh of relief as rested one hand on top of his brother's. It was a quiet moment of solace in an otherwise troubling situation.

"alright. so...what do we do?"

"WE KEEP MOVING. WE TRY TO FIND...SOMETHING."

Sans nodded. "yeah. you're right. c'mon, but don't let go of me. we don't want to get separated."

"IS THAT...THE ONLY REASON?"

"...nope. i just...need you here."

"I FEEL THE SAME WAY."

The heartbeat sensation again. It pulsed in both of their chests in perfect sync, never wavering, never softening. Their familial bonds were stronger than ever as hands remained held, wandering a dark, empty infinity.

But there was another. Sans could feel it.

"...pap, i can...it's there."

"I FEEL IT TOO. SANS, LET'S HURRY!"

Despite the unique properties of the space, Papyrus was still quite strong, as he ran forward, almost dragging Sans along behind him as the two held hands. Papyrus looked back at his brother struggling to keep up, and yanked Sans toward him, catching him and hoisting him on his back.

"READY FOR A PIGGYBACK RIDE?"

"aw c'mon pap, don't you think i'm a little old for..."

"YES I DO!"

Sans laughed. "heh...alright then."

Red boots clomped on an almost invisible ground as Papyrus and Sans ran through the darkness, following the pulsing sensation like a metaphysical game of "hot and cold." Sans felt it the strongest, and his new-found position made it easier for him to point Papyrus in the right direction. Finally, the two had caught a glimpse of something.

A light.

"THERE!" Papyrus exclaimed, breaking into a sprint.

As it got closer, the source of the light began to take on its form. It wasn't just a ball of light, it almost appeared to be some kind of construct, formed out of one single word. They stopped short when they could finally read what it said.

[-RESET-]

"...no way," Sans said, hopping off his brother's back.

He was getting a little surprised at just how many times he was saying that phrase lately, but this was certainly a very eventful few days. It was right here, the very same thing that Frisk had told him about before. A black, empty place, and a huge button that said "reset" just floating there, tempting them with possibility.

Gaster. Gaster had brought Frisk here once. Gaster saved them from themselves.

"dad. you were the one who helped frisk get away from that...thing," he murmured.

"WHAT'S THAT?"

"...nothing. i'll explain later. right now, we gotta figure out what to do."

"YEAH."

It was staring them right in the face. The cause of so many problems, and the alleviation of others. The chance to go back and change things one more time. The chance to relive another time-line, to try again to make things as right as possible.

No. It was wrong.

"dad...wouldn't want this. he's here. i can feel it..."

"YEAH. MAYBE...THIS PLACE ACTS LIKE THE VOID DID, AND REACTS TO OUR...'DESIRE'? MAYBE WE JUST HAVE TO CALL FOR DAD!"

"...guess it's worth a shot. dad! dad are you here?!"

"DAD! PLEASE, WE NEED YOU!"

"dad!"

"DAD!"

It got stronger. Stronger and stronger and stronger until...

A white light rose from the ground in front of them, in the shape of a heart, held upside-down. Its luminescence was pulsating with the same rhythm as their own heartbeats, telling them everything they needed to know.

Gaster's soul.

"dad...we don't know what to do! we don't want to reset, but..."

"BUT...IF IT'S THE ONLY WAY OUT OF HERE...I'D RATHER STAY!"

"yeah."

The white soul bobbed up and down as if it were nodding. It began to float toward the large "button," almost as if it were gazing at it for a second, before drifting into it and phasing through. The action caused the button to appear to be glitching, as the letters began to scramble and reform.

[-RESGDR-]

[-RDGAENUE-]

[-CDSTDNUE-]

[-CONTINUE-]

It was a word that Sans never realized he'd always wanted to hear. Keep going forward, regardless of the consequences. Keep living your lives.

Keep moving on.

"pap...this is it. this is our chance. dad..."

"I KNOW. DAD GAVE US THIS, BECAUSE..."

"because he knew it's what we wanted. he's always known."

The soul nodded.

Papyrus and Sans walked right up in front of the button, glancing at each other with a glimmer in their eyes.

This is it.

Papyrus held out a hand to his brother, who took it into his own as they both nodded.

"let's go see frisk."

"YEAH."

Two hands pressed onto the button, which seemed to react before fading away into a strange kind of luminescent dust. They felt a sensation as if something were pushing them farther and farther away from their location, but at the same time they were being sucked into a vortex. An implosion that felt like the result of an explosion. Right was becoming left. Up was turning down.

Black began to brighten to a blinding white.

" **Sans...Papyrus."**

Brighter and brighter.

" **You Made Me Very Happy."**

* * *

Sans awoke to the sound of water rushing in the distance.

He was on the cold ground of a rocky cave floor, straining to raise his head off of the rock it was uncomfortably resting on. Propping himself on his elbows, he scanned around for any sign of his brother.

He saw a red cape draping over a skull.

"papyrus?!"

"MMMM...JUST A MINUTE..." Papyrus groaned.

"phew..." Sans sighed.

The two slowly rose to their feet, Sans glancing around to get a good look at their surroundings. It was familiar all right. To the left, a room with a table holding a shattered piece of crystal. to the right, a telescope used to gaze up at the stones on the ceiling.

The hallway in waterfall.

"IS THIS...WHERE I THINK IT IS?"

"yeah...it's..."

His attention was stolen by something new, and yet...well known. A floating white light in front of them. The shape of a heart. A soul.

Gaster.

"pap, look..."

But Papyrus had already seen. Reaching into the duffel bag, he leapt forward with astounding agility, letting out a mighty "NYEH-HEH-HEH" before coming to a stop. The sound of machinery clicking intrigued Sans greatly.

"what did you just do?"

Papyrus turned around, holding a glass tube housing Gaster's soul. The circuitry on the top of the vessel was all too familiar to a former scientist. The soul containment vessel. The one meant for Frisk.

"I TOLD YOU. A ROYAL GUARD IS ALWAYS PREPARED!"

"...and a royal guard is always prepared to be prepared."

"RIGHT! NYEH-HEH-HEH!"

"was that what you were carrying this entire time? how did you even think of bringing it along?"

"WELL...I STARTED TO WONDER IF DAD WAS...SOMETHING...MORE. HE MADE US WITH PIECES OF HIS SOUL, BUT HIS SOUL ALSO GREW BACK ON HIS OWN WHEN HE DID. HE WAS AROUND BEFORE THE BARRIER WAS CREATED, AND THAT WAS SUCH A LONG TIME THAT I JUST THOUGHT...HE MIGHT BE A 'BOSS' MONSTER."

"i can't believe i didn't think about that. so that's why you went to asgore's place."

"PARTIALLY, YES. I JUST HAD THIS FEELING. SOMETHING THAT SEEMED TO...DARKEN THE FUTURE, AND I COULD NOT EXPLAIN IT! SO I TOOK A PRECAUTION."

"and here we are. so...what're we going to do with dad's soul?"

"WELL...I HAD AN IDEA."

"heh, well, let's get out of here first, you can tell me all about it on the way back. you don't mind driving, do you? i'm kinda beat."

"SURE, THAT'S FINE, LAZYBONES."

"i missed that," Sans smiled.

"I...DID TOO. I'M GLAD WE MADE IT."

"yeah."

They walked toward the cavern with the telescope, their hearts beating as one.

"hey pap."

"YES, BROTHER?"

"...let's go see frisk. together."

"THAT SOUNDS SPLENDID."

It smelled like true hope underneath those phony stars.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: _HOOOOO BOY this took awhile._

 _Oh...did you think it was over?_

 _How silly. Did you think I wouldn't have an epilogue planned. ;)_

 _Thanks for reading :D_


	19. Epilogue: Reunion

His skull felt so heavy. Heavy and...different.

He felt like he was laying on a familiar metal surface. A medical examination table, perhaps, judging by how smooth it felt. He couldn't move his head, but he could sense that something was off. For one, the cool touch of the table never seemed to go away. Almost as if there was no exchange of body heat whatsoever.

What bothered him most were the lack of any other sensory inputs. He could feel things, but his vision was dark. He couldn't smell or taste anything either, and he couldn't hear...

...wait.

Yes he could. Almost like a switch were flipped on.

Various beeps sounded off around him, and he could make out the gentle hum of machinery doing its work. Computer fans whirred as the scratching of hard drives changed data in the very air.

A loud hiss. A door? Was he back at Hotland? Two sets of feet moved closer, one of them sounded like bare feet on a metal floor, the other one sounded like heavy metal, clamping hard on the ground.

"-nk you s-so much for your help, Mettaton," A nervous voice spoke. "I-I wasn't sure if this was going to work..."

Another voice, robotic and...sassy? "[-Oh, but of course, my dear, I'd do anything to help you out! My agent wasn't exactly thrilled when I told him I was going on a vacay to Ebott, but I just told him that if he wants a star, he's gotta follow where it goes!-]"

"Heh...th-that's a good one. You won't get in trouble or anything, would you?"

"[-Not if he wants to keep making my commission, sweetie.-]"

The footsteps shuffled closer. He felt like he was being stared at, uncomfortably close. It shuffled away again, standing a few feet away.

"Hmm. That's strange. There's...activity? But I thought I hadn't activated..."

"[-Alphys, don't tell me you forgot what happened to me? I turned them on myself, remember?-]"

"O-oh, you're right. I almost forgot about that."

"[-...and it was really _scary,_ remember?-]

He heard the nervous one gasp. "O-oh my goodness! Oh! Oh no no no..."

It shuffled closer again. He could feel a clawed hand rest on his shoulder.

"D-don't worry. I know that not having all your senses activated can be scary, but I'll get them back up and running in a second, okay?!"

He had no choice but to remain silent.

There was a furious clacking of a keyboard, and a sound of a mouse frantically sliding on a metal table, clicking rapidly in between the typing.

He felt something...shimmer down in his throat, as strange noises escaped his mouth.

"Y-you should be able to speak now."

His first attempts were awkward sputters, which told him that he certainly wasn't in his own body.

" **Wh-where am...hrrk..."**

"[-You're safe, handsome. Alphys built this new body for you, and I have to say it's quite fetching.-]"

"W-well, I tried to make it as close to the original as possible."

"[-Well then I guess the original was just as gorgeous. What a strong jawline!-]"

" **I...can't move..."**

"Sorry. I'm activating your motor functions now. This should also let you open your eyes."

It was a troubling sensation. Every single joint in his body seemed to tense up at once, shifting rapidly as pieces fell into place. Calibrations and calculations occurred all over his frame, as he gave a trembling groan that broke into a glitchy mess at times from the interference.

After the jittering slowed down, he felt a final twinge over his eyebrows, before he slowly forced them open. Light poured into his optical sensors, and he watched as his eyes seemed to...react to it by dimming it to a more comfortable level. He could hear systems whirring behind his eyes, causing the ceiling to come into focus with incredible clarity.

"C-can you see?"

" **Y-yes. Clearly. Very very clearly."**

"Good! Now let's have you try to sit up."

His hands braced on the edge of the table he was laying on as he made his first attempt. There was a small delay to his actions, just long enough to be worrying. His back slowly folded forward as he could feel servos coming to life for the first time. He could finally see the two figures he'd been listening to for the last several minutes.

He turned toward the yellow monster. **"Doctor...Alphys?"**

Alphys nodded. "You remember me?"

" **I do. You've...grown up,"** He smiled, turning toward her rather...eye-catching companion. **"You...I don't think I've had the pleasure of meeting. How do you do?"**

Mettaton smiled. "[-Oh, handsome _and_ a gentleman! My name is Mettaton, rising Hollywood superstar extraordinaire!-]"

He slowly rose his arm to offer a handshake, which Mettaton grasped with both hands.

"[-Don't worry honey, it'll take some getting used to, but you'll love your new body, I promise!-]"

After they ended their handshake, he gazed down at his hand, rotating it back and forth.

" **I'm...still a little confused."**

"Let me explain," Alphys cleared her throat, "Your soul has been transplanted into this robot body, much like what happened with Mettaton here. Although Mettaton was a ghost-type monster, with a natural tendency to want to 'inhabit' something to become more corporeal. So their soul essentially possesses the body it wants to inhabit, basically transplanting their soul into that."

She brought up some images on her computer, showing a diagnostic of his full body.

"You aren't a ghost-type, but because you're a boss monster, your soul can persist briefly after death. It took awhile, but I managed to get your soul to adapt to the body while I worked on its functionality. The rest was all waiting for you to finally wake up. Which reminds me, are all your memories intact? Do you remember your name?"

He stared at the hole in the center of his metal hand.

" **Gaster."**

Alphys breathed a sigh of relief. "Good. That was the last hangup I had. Any questions?"

" **Plenty. How does this even work? Is it my body or..."**

"So, what happened to your body is what happens to all monsters when they die, it turned to dust. However, your soul persisted, and Papyrus caught it in one of the soul containment vessels Asgore had for the human souls. So I copied that technology into your own body's design, much like Mettaton's. Now your magic won't have the same effect, since your soul is behind that 'barrier,' so to speak, but we can talk later about any enhancements you'd like to make."

Gaster glanced at Mettaton and then back to himself on the monitor. **"And my face? If I'm a...robot, how am I able to smile and talk as if it were normal?"**

"Oh, well, thanks to Mettaton, I was able to get the funding I needed to get more of a substance called 'memory metal,' which can change its shape. Since it's tied into your soul, well, your mouth makes whatever shapes the emotions demand of it."

He touched a metal hand to his lips, feeling as he forced his mouth to make a variety of shapes.

"Now, the stiffness is something that will take getting used to. Your body is in a constant state of calibration, so for a couple of weeks it'll be a bit tough to walk without effort."

" **You said it took awhile...how long was I...out?"**

"About two months."

"[-Alphys has been working around the clock on your new body, despite my constant demands that she pace herself.-]

"I...I wanted to help! And Papyrus was so happy and Sans was...well, he was really hopeful, for once."

A spark flashed across Gaster's violet eyes. **"Sans and Papyrus! Where are they, I'd like to see them."**

"Oh, they must be picking up Frisk from school. Let me give them a call to swing by," she said, reaching into her coat pocket to pull out her phone.

Mettaton offered a hand to help the doctor stand.

"[-Well, while she gives them the best phone call of their lives, you and I need to get you into wardrobe. Can't have you walking around all naked like that, can we?"-]

He glanced down at his robotic frame, his eye catching on the glass chamber in his chest, housing a white glowing soul. He placed his hand over it and gave a contented chuckle.

" **I suppose it wouldn't do for a Royal Scientist to remain in the nude."**

* * *

Alphys and Mettaton stood in the hallway opposite the closed bathroom door, leaning against the wall. Mettaton in particular had a giddy look on his normally cheeky robotic face.

"...Mettaton, why did you even bring this with you in the first place?"

"[-What, the clothes? Well, they were a holdover from a skit we were planning for the show, but for some reason the tailor fitted it wrong and it was just too tight for me. I figured that the stunning lass in town here could help re-fit it, seeing as she does such spectacular work.-]"

"You brought an outfit all the way out here just to get it redone?"

Mettaton winked. "[-You haven't seen how good she is, dear.-]"

A voice from inside the bathroom beckoned. **"Are...you sure this is a good look? I mean...I'm a scientist, this is a bit..."**

The robot smacked a hand on the door and interrupted "[-Ah ah ah, you've got to trust me, handsome, with that jawline and physique, it's _definitely_ your color.-]

" **Well, alright, if you say so..."**

He slapped the door again. "[-Of course I say so! Now open the door and let's get a good first impression!-]"

The lock on the knob clicked open as it turned, swinging slowly to reveal Gaster's new wardrobe.

Mettaton didn't really take in the other details before, but they were so striking now. His face was similar to his old one, although it was metallic. His eyes glowed with a gentle violet hue, with thin slits rising from the top of his right eye, and falling from his left; matching the cracks he once had in his skull from the accident.

From the neck down he was very dapper, wearing a white dress shirt with a long, thin black tie running down to his waist. His hands were bare, with holes in the center of the palms just like he was used to. A black leather belt on black dress slacks with black shoes finished the ensemble, save for one stark, powerful piece.

A long black coat wrapped around the doctor as if it were meant just for him, draping behind him and falling all the way down to his calves. In a way, it matched his old lab coat, although the color made Gaster appear to be much thinner than he actually was. It was actually a very well put-together ensemble.

" **Well?"**

Mettaton tried to fight the star-struck look in his eyes. Finally his inspiration struck as he reached for the middle of the doctor's coat, buttoning a single button in the center.

"[-There you are, gorgeous. Keep this button closed and it makes a very nice X-shape, and allows the coat to flare out around you as you walk. Adds an air of...showmanship!"-]

Gaster chuckled a bit. **"If you say so. What do you think, Doctor Alphys?"**

He already knew the answer before he asked it, but he felt like being a bit of a tease anyway, since Alphys was blushing so hard she was almost hiding her face.

"It-it looks r-r-really good!"

" **Thank you. I suppose I could give this look a try. New clothes for a new man, and all that. Thank you Mettaton, it's perf-"**

The sound of a door slamming open in the distance caused Gaster to cut his sentence short.

"-NS, YOU CAN'T JUST BARGE IN, YOU HAVE TO KNOCK FIRST!"

"c'mon, alphys ain't gonna mind, besides, she called us over. dad?!"

" **Sans? Papyrus?!"**

Gaster dashed toward the living room, stopping to look at his sons on the opposite side of the room. They stood in silence before tears began to fall from Papyrus' eyes as he dashed into his father's arms.

"DAD! DAD YOU'RE...HERE, AND YOU'RE AWAKE AND YOU'RE...METAL!"

Gaster wrapped his arms around his son even tighter. **"You're here...we're really here, aren't we?"**

Sans shrugged. "well, it ain't the nicest house in the world, but yeah, we're here."

Papyrus and Gaster released each other as the younger one wiped a tear away from his face. Gaster placed his hands on his hips and stared at his other son.

" **Nothing to say? No jokes?"**

"well, you know me. sometimes my humor can be a little... _black._ "

They chuckled for a moment, until Sans looked up into his father's eyes again. He didn't know if it was the purple color, or if it was the fact that he looked almost exactly the same as before, but something emotionally caved. Sans hung his head, choking back his own tears as Gaster swept in, knelt down, and drew Sans in close as the skeleton buried his face into the black coat.

" **You did a great job, Sans. You didn't forget. You didn't forget."**

"i tried not to but...i was scared. i was so scared and...and i almost..."

" **But you didn't. You and Papyrus did an amazing job, Sans. You found me. You stopped Chara's shadows. You managed to save me."**

"y-yeah," Sans sniffed, lifting his head, "yeah, we did, didn't we?"

Gaster nodded and found something that caught his eye, standing behind Sans.

" **And who might this be?"**

Sans pulled himself from his father's grasp, taking a few steps backward and wrapping his arm around the human child standing there in silence, as they started to hide behind the skeleton.

"dad...this is frisk."

Gaster's eyes widened. **"...Frisk?! This is the child who..."**

Sans nodded. "yep."

"FRISK IS THE BEST FRIEND I'VE EVER HAD!" Papyrus proclaimed.

"c'mon frisk, he ain't gonna bite. this is our dad. this is doctor gaster."

Frisk slowly stepped out from behind Sans, giving the doctor the kindest smile he'd ever seen in his life. He outstretched a hand attached to a long metal arm, as Frisk placed their tiny hand in his.

He clasped his other hand over the human's. **"Such...determination. I can feel it. You really are a special child, Frisk. Thank you. Thank you for everything."**

Frisk giggled and let their smile grow even wider, leading Gaster to beam in turn. "Thanks, Grandpa."

Gaster let out a hearty laugh. **"Hah! Grandpa?!**

"well yeah, i'm 'dad,' so you gotta be grandpa, old man."

Frisk looked toward the floor, blushing.

"what, you think i forgot about that one, kid? c'mon, it was cute. and besides...it was...something i really needed to hear."

The human turned and embraced Sans, who returned the sentiment.

"i guess this is just a huggy kind of day, huh?"

A pair of boots tromped into the room, followed by a strong voice.

"Speaking of hugs...you're Gaster, right?"

"Undyne!" Alphys gasped, smiling.

Gaster looked at the Captain of the Royal Guard. **"I am. You're Undyne? I heard a bit about you from Alphys, It's nice to meet..."**

"Yeah yeah yeah," she interrupted, "...man you're tall. Anyway, you...might wanna come outside."

" **Oh? Why?"**

"I, uh...may have spilled the beans."

"SPILLED THE BEANS?! TO WHO, THE ONLY PERSON YOU EVER REALLY WORK WITH IS AS..."

Papyrus held his hands to his mouth.

"ASGORE."

Gaster's eyes flashed a brilliant shade of violet as he dashed out the front door.

* * *

The sunset had only just begun, changing the neighborhood to a very mild tinge of yellow as the shadows began to grow just long enough to notice.

Gaster hadn't actually experienced the air up on the surface in a very, very long time. His new robotic body wasn't exactly natural, but somehow it was still perfectly functional in the ways that mattered, as he felt the cool breeze wash over him, causing the tail of his coat to gently flutter. He took in the smells, a combination of the planet's persistence and human progress.

He opened his eyes and saw someone very dear to him standing at the sidewalk.

Asgore.

The former monarch just stood there, quietly looking at the ebon-clad robot in front of him, holding a hand in front of his heart.

"...Doctor Gaster?"

The doctor walked toward Asgore, saying nothing.

"Gaster...is that really you?"

The doctor sighed, closing his eyes and then opening them again.

" **It's me,"** he smiled, **"'old man.'"**

Asgore's lip began to quiver as he nearly dove into Gaster, giving him the strongest bear hug he'd ever felt. If he weren't made of metal, Gaster worried that this might be slightly harmful.

Heavy, deep sobs erupted from Asgore as large tears began to streak the fur on his face.

"It's you. It's really you! My friend, my dear, dear friend! I missed you so much! I'm sorry! I'm so very sorry!"

" **Sorry for what, old friend?"**

"I forgot! I forgot all about you! Sans and Papyrus asked me about you and I couldn't remember, but...after Papyrus came over...the day after I just started having all these memories. I spent a good few days just...crying my heart out."

" **Ah. That must have been when they brought me back. My friend...I'm so sorry for leaving."**

"It's okay, Gaster, you're here! You're really here and I can feel you, feel your heartbeat...I..."

" **Come now, you're going to make me cry, too. ...If I'm able to."**

The weeping began to subside as Asgore let his friend go, placing his hands on his shoulders, grinning.

"You're really here."

" **Yeah. I hear you've been busy."**

"Oh, it's nothing. Humans aren't used to monsters, after all. Somebody has to take responsibility."

" **Well, think a former Royal Scientist could help with that?"**

"It would be most welcome, I could use an extra pair of hands and another brain to pick. Think you can handle it? The humans can be quite the handful."

" **After what I've gone through, I'm more than ready."**

"Great!" Asgore said, slapping Gaster on the back with enough force to almost knock the lanky doctor over. "But first, let's go have a cup of tea. We have a lot of catching up to do."

They both looked over their shoulders at the group watching on the porch. One human, two skeleton brothers, a fish monster and her girlfriend scientist, and one beautiful robot.

"That goes for the rest of you, c'mon, let's all have some tea."

Sans stepped forward and shrugged. "nah. you guys go ahead and catch up. we'll be here."

" **Are you sure?"**

Papyrus clasped his cloak in a heroic pose. "OF COURSE! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, AM POSITIVE THAT WE WILL HAVE MANY MORE OPPORTUNITIES. GO ON, ENJOY YOURSELVES!"

Undyne punched Papyrus in the shoulder. "You dork!"

"WHAT?!"

"Nothing, dork."

Asgore and Gaster laughed as the ambassador wrapped his arm around the doctor's shoulders, turning to face the neighborhood. The view of the city proper was contrasted by the looming presence of Mount Ebott.

"It's a big world out there, old friend. You ready for this?"

Gaster nodded. **"I've been working for this my entire life. Let's build a new future for humans and monsters."**

"Yes. Let's give everybody...a little more hope."

" **Indeed."**

It smelled like skeletons, sunsets, and smiles.

It smelled like hope.

It smelled like dreams coming true.

…

It truly smelled like **The End.**

======================================  
 _This is a song for someone I don't know...  
May your days get brighter as you go...  
I guess it's never easy  
to love what we become...  
This is a song for someone."_

-Vertical Horizon, "A Song For Someone"

* * *

 _I can't believe it's finished. I have so much I want to say, but I guess two words say it the best._

 _THANK YOU._

 _You guys have no idea how great this feels. I'm probably going to write a huge blog post on my tumblr about the experience when I can._

 _Seriously...four months of work and I've never been happier. I'm so so so glad I was able to give so many people something worth reading, enjoying, and I'm so thankful for everybody's support and well-wishes and...man._

 _I'm going to start crying probably. Thank you._

 _From the bottom of my heart._

 _THANK YOU._


End file.
